Fennel Crusted Duck
Andrew Gardner for SPLIT REED
Presented by Traeger Grills
This recipe is so good because it accentuates and balances the awesome fat ducks and geese are loved for. The fennel and brown sugar bring out a little nostalgia as you’d get from an Italian or breakfast sausage, and there’s a little sweetness from the brown sugar that emphasizes those flavors. You get a tiny kick from the crushed red pepper and a good measure of salt. And let’s not forget, the crispy and salty duck skin is the best part.
Ingredients:
Plucked duck on the half shell, or plucked and breasted with the skin on and thigh intact.
↓ Blend these ingredients together to create the rub.
1 TBS Brown Sugar
2 TBS Kosher Salt
2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1.5 TBS Cracked Fennel
1 TBS Black Pepper
Instructions:
I usually brine my ducks in an equal ratio of salt and brown sugar, but that’s optional. If you brine, do so for 24-72 hours. Pat them dry before seasoning.
Apply a liberal amount of that rub thoroughly covering the bird. Let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, and up to a day before cooking. A trick to get the seasoning to stick is to cut a lemon in half and rub it in the skin. Ideally, this step would happen a couple of hours up to a day ahead of time so that rub can penetrate the skin and meat a bit.
Ready to grill? Crank that pellet grill all the way up! Mine is usually around 500 degrees.
Pull the seasoned birds out of the fridge and let ‘em sit on the counter and come to room temp for 30 minutes or so. Longer is ok, to a point.
Put them on the grill, skin side up, over indirect heat, and close the lid and open the vents if you have them. Let them cook for 6 minutes.
After those six minutes open the lid and flip em over. Close the lid for another 6 minutes.
Open the lid back up, and keeping them skin side down, move them over the hottest part of the grill and let them crisp. This will take anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. You want that skin browned and sizzling and sliding up the leg bone.
Pull’ em off and eat ‘em hot!
NOTE: If the birds are breasted with the skin in and thigh intact I would probably cut down on the first two steps by a minute (5 min on each side, using indirect heat)
Please do yourself the biggest favor and take the time to pluck your duck! This recipe is 10x better with it on.
One of the ducks in this recipe happened to come ‘pre-seasoned’, with some leg iron!
Love these delicious recipes? Well, you’re in luck because you can find all of them here, at the Split Reed Recipes page!
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