this is the one I use, the key is sweating out the onions/pepper/carrots nice and slow and usually adding extra butter and garlic. Let me know when you meet you for the hunt


1 (4 to 5-pound) duck
4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups small dice onion
3/4 cup small dice celery
3/4 cup small dice green, red and/or yellow bell peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (12-ounce) bottle stout beer (recommended: Abita Turbo Dog)
6 cups dark chicken stock, or chicken stock or water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
5 teaspoons Bayou Blast, recipe follows
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 pounds andouille sausage (or other smoked sausage), cut into 1/2-inch rounds
Steamed white rice, for serving
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves

Directions
Rinse the duck under cold running water both inside and out. Remove any excess fat at the cavity opening and at the neck. Use a sharp boning or butcher's knife to cut the back on either side of the spine. Remove the spine and reserve for stock. Cut through the breastbone of the duck to give you 2 halves. Cut the legs from each half as well as the first 2 digits of the wings. Set the legs aside, and cut the breasts in half horizontally.

Season the duck with 2 teaspoons of Bayou Blast. Place a large Dutch/stock pot oven over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until hot. Place the seasoned duck, skin side down in the pan and sear until golden brown, about 7 to 8 minutes. Turn the duck over and sear on the second side as well for an additional 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the duck from the pan and place on a platter while you make the roux.

Add the vegetable oil to the pan as well as the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir the roux continuously over medium heat until the color of dark chocolate, about 20 to 25 minutes. Add the onions, celery and peppers and garlic to the roux and stir, gently until the vegetables are slightly wilted, about 4 to 5 minutes. Pour the beer over the vegetables and stir to incorporate. Add the stock/water to the pan with the thyme, bay leaves, bayou blast, cayenne pepper and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Add the sausage. Stir the pot well to ensure that the roux and the stock are well blended. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the gumbo to a boil; then lower to a simmer. Return the seared duck pieces to the pan and cook (skimming any foam and fat that may rise to the surface), for 1 hour and 30 minutes. After an hour and a half, remove the duck pieces from the gumbo and place on a platter to cool. Once the duck is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and meat from the bones and add the meat to the gumbo. Discard the skin and bones and re-season the gumbo, if necessary.

To serve the gumbo, ladle 1 cup into a heated soup bowl with 1/4 cup white rice. Garnish with the green onions and chopped parsley. Bread bowls are even better though



Bayou Blast seasoning:

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Makin some of Moose's as we speak...

Man y'all have some crazy gumbo recipes... more ingredients than I care for.

tips on a good duck Gumbo, atleast this always worked for me. And I've seen some people already key up on it. I don't know the exact measurements as I don't ever measure. Really it's personal preference what you want to add as far as veg. I can cook a gumbo with only onion and shallots as the veg. and it comes out good.


1. I only use teal or wood ducks, those are the best eating (especially if they been eating rice).
2. If you don't use whole bird (plucked and cleanded ofcourse) use some chicken quarters with the duck boobs (breasts), the bones cooking down add to the stock and give it a good flavor. If your feeling froggy throw a smoked turkey neckbone in there, or some tasso... No Hollywood Gumbos!
3. If your not cooking a big gumbo cook down some bacon that morning and strain all the "drippins" from it and use that for your roux. Then you can snack on bacon and drink beer for the rest of the cook'n. Your going to cook about a pound of bacon to get enough grease, or go to a butcher and see if you can get some fatback and cook it down. Or just use veg. oil, it works just fine. I like the pepper bacon... it's tasty!
4. If you can get Anduoille sausage go with that, if not try to get some decent sausage. Since moving to South Texas I've been using V&V or Praseks.
5. Cook your duck and chicken down (or just duck) in a stock pot. Add some chicken stock and water onions etc (whatever veg. you like). and get it rolling then cut back the fire and let it slow roll stirring often. Cook the meat off the bone. Season accordingly... Salt/Pepper or Tony Chachere's.. Zatarans... again if you have some pepper belly's your cooking for spice it up!
6. Cut your sausage thin and put it in your pot you will cook the whole gumbo. Add medium heat and cook/sweat the sausage down. Not so hot you burn all the grease up. Stir often but keep lid on pot as much as possible to sweat the most grease out. Once you get the sausaged cooked, get some black on it.. almost burnt. Kill the fire and pull the sausage out and leave the grease.
7. Put chopped onions (amount depends on size of gumbo) in the sausage grease and apply med. heat. stir them up, don't caramalize them but damn near. Then kill the fire and wait to add your duck/chicken and stock.
8. Once your duck/chicken is nice and cooked add it and the stock to the pot you cooked your onions and sausage. apply medium heat. Add water or chicken stock as needed.
9. Make your roux, or you would already have done it. add grease and flour or veg. oil or whatever your little heart desires. About half and half in a cast iron pan and apply med. heat. Mix it all together and stir it often to avoid burning the roux. I get mine a little darker than peanut butter and then remove from the heat and let it cool.
10. Put roux, in pot and bring to a slow boil stirring in the roux (make sure you stir in your roux and get it all mixed in). And then let it simmer for about an hour as all the sweet goodness comes together. You can also add some boiled eggs at this point, they soak up the seasoning and will make your gumbo feed alittle more. I like to add them for taste and it makes people always ask... "Whats in this?" SEason to taste, usually you don't need that much so don't get salt happy.
11. Add your shallots about 5 min before killing the heat. stir and let it set for about 30 min.
12. Cook ya some rice, and by the time you get that done serve the gumbo over rice... enjoy!

Remember the basics of Gumbo, poor folks makeing something to eat with what they had avialable. They usually added all the extras to make it go further (i.e. feed more people). So put what YOU want in it if you like cooking with that. There's no cookie cutter approach to gumbo, I can kick one out in about 2.5 hrs or I can take all day. And both of them will taste good.

If you want a boneless aka Hollywood Gumbo use duck breast and throw a couple boneless chicken thighs.

And to the OP, good taste in Scotch. Single Malt and Duck Gumbo in the same thread.... I love it!!!

Results:
I made three gumbos based upon ease-of-directions, interesting ingredients, and confidence of the submitter.
My family tasted all three in a blind test and we had a family winner. I took the leftovers of that winner to the THF Hunt @ Redlegs this weekend and put a big pot of it on the stove as we were waiting on our fish to fry.

Out of 15 or so guys, the gumbo was a big hit and there wasn't a drop left. Many congratulated me on the gumbo...but I made clear it wasn't my recipe.

KDub, you and Moose have a bottle of Glenlivet coming. PM me with address.

Thanks to everyone for playing...I had a great time cooking up these batches.

Thanks fanatiquack, I am sharing it with him. MK will be happy to hear. I will pm you, I drive through Dallas everyday so I can meet you or you can send it which ever is easiest. Glad you like it buddy.

That stuff is legit

Moose's gumbo is the bomb.com!!!

The "big stock pot" in step 2, is that the pot with the duck and crab boil per step 1? I thought crab boil is something you discard (drain off), or is that the "stock". I only tried this once and I was not sure, I used some of the crab boil, but drained most of it off for my stock.

Moose's recipe that kdub is talking about is the chits!!

So do you discard the crab boil or keep it in the gumbo?

I discard the crab boil But keep some of the water to add to the gumbo as needed

Made this one yesterday and am having my first bowl today for lunch. Good stuff and easy to make.

Gonna give this recipe a go this weekend but all I have are de-boned, skinless breasts. Never made duck gumbo. Anything I should do differently with what I've got?

Nope, it's just better if the breasts are still on the bone...

1 of the breast I used was already off the bone, it seemed to come out as well as the others did. None of mine had skin on them though, don't know how that changes the taste. I'm new to cooking ducks though.

Thanks for the responses.

I just made some, I over did it on the crab boil, meat was too salty. So I will cut it back next time. I breasted the meat, too much trouble plucking. I bet it is better, but not enough for the trouble of plucking. Thought about breasting out with breast bone in, that is not too much trouble with game sheers...

I made this yesterday and to me and several others it just seemed to be missing something. This was my first duck gumbo BTW. Had the cayenne and a little salt in it already. Added some Tony Chachere's and BOOM, we found what we were looking for and that gumbo really came alive. Great recipe and thanks to the original poster of it.

I've been working on my Teal Gumbo and you're exactly right. While the oil/flour roux I made is OK, it has a heavy oily flavor. I'm going to do exactly what you suggest with the next batch and use bacon grease and malted barley flour.

cajuns use lard

Gonna make some of that gumbo tomorrow after I pick up a bottle of you guessed it.....Scotch!


Here's one of my favorites, duck Fajitas.

After soaking several breasts from good ducks in water for several days, thin slice the breasts across the grain and marinate in fiesta brand fajita seasoning, cumin, and chili powder for 24 hours. Slice up some onions and bell peppers, sizzle in a greasy iron skiller, and serve with refried beans, warm tortillas, and a frosty mug of modelo.

Here is a tip for you gumbo makers that you will thank me for.

Google "Good Eats roux". You will never make roux the old fashioned way again. Takes roux making from being a royal pain in the you know what to a piece of cake. Basically you cook it in the oven. Trust me it is money everytime.

Now on to the topic at hand I do not like duck in my gumbo. And I am a 100% gumboaholic. I do not like my duck cooked past medium rare. And besides duck is way too valuable to put in gumbo. Of course that is just my personal opinion and I would not be suprised if everyone disagrees with me. That happens a whole bunch in my life and I am used to it.

Gunslinger I would add that ducks what have been eating a steady diet of acorns taste pretty good to me too. But you are right, that is why rice goes so good with everything. Of course I think rice goes great with everything anyway.