Have you eaten Common Merganser or would you?

[Curly]

   Well, at least the dog liked merganser enough to eat twice.    

[Curly]

Is that a glass of beer in the last pic?  Weathergirl and Loki, you didn't drink a whole bunch of beer before trying the duck, did you?  I suppose enough beer might be able to make fish duck taste ok. 


All, kidding aside, Loki must be a really good cook.  I'm glad you're taking out some fish eaters.  Good job! 

[GrampasGuns]

Maybe Im spoiled having worked with some James Beard award winning chefs in my time as a butcher, but I seriously have never eaten a winged and wild bird that didn't taste excellent. If people stepped up their cooking game a bit they would be blown away, instead of limiting a duck to flying breast meat that gets put into pepperoni. Try some cure wild duck breast! IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!

Eat on brothers!

[lokidog]

Now I'm torn on what to cook for the next BBQ get-together, merganser or dogfish....     I am surprised at the lack of adventure that all of the "no, never will" responses show in this and the dogfish poll.   

Smossy's Girl, thanks for the kudos.     I enjoy cooking and trying different things.

Atroxus, I've been waiting for someone to ask.  This recipe does not actually have a bunch of stuff to cover up the taste.  I have found though that breaking the meat into smaller bits (grinding or slicing thin) allows the flavor to show more than the texture.

Here it is (reduce or increase the ingredients according to the amount of duck you have):

Salisbury Duck Steak

1 1/2 lb ground duck                      3/4 cup breadcrumbs (seasoned or not)
1-2 T ketchup                                2 t dry mustard
6 dashes Worcestershire sauce        1 cube or t beef boullion
1/2 t black pepper                          1 t salt
1 t onion powder                            1/2 t garlic powder

Flour, black pepper, thyme (for dredging the patties).
Onions, olive or canola oil.

In a small bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix together, add to the ground duck, mix thoroughly, add wet ingredients, mix thoroughly.  Make small patties, the mixture will be really sticky so I formed a ball then flattened it a bit and finished flattening when I dunked it in the flour (you can add more breadcrumbs to make it less sticky).  Set aside so all can be added at once.

Fry onions and garlic or mushrooms, if wanted, to desired doneness, remove from oil and set aside.  Make sure there is at least 1/8 inch of oil in the pan, you may have to add some (too little oil and you won't get the brown crunchiness that is yummy on the outside).

Add flour covered patties, cook until done flipping when the first side starts to brown.  Do not worry too much about overcooking a little as this will not get tough and chewy.  Add onion (mix) back to pan to warm it up. 

We just served it with mashed potatoes and instant brown gravy.  Or make homemade beef gravy.

Enjoy.   

BTW, anyone wants to send me Merganser meat (I'll take the legs too), I am more than happy to oblige.  Wish there was more season and time now that I found a recipe that is not just OK, but really good.

[lokidog]

And, no Curly, not beer, it is a whiskey and seven though only my first one of the evening.   

[papisjeep]

my dogs love merganser
 

[ICEMAN]

Yes. They eat just fine.

[WSU]

Maybe Im spoiled having worked with some James Beard award winning chefs in my time as a butcher, but I seriously have never eaten a winged and wild bird that didn't taste excellent. If people stepped up their cooking game a bit they would be blown away, instead of limiting a duck to flying breast meat that gets put into pepperoni. Try some cure wild duck breast! IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!

Eat on brothers!

Got a recipe?  I'd love to give it a try.

[Kola16]

Even the guys on Alaska the Last Frontier wanted to barf when they ate mergs, and they gobbled plain puddlers