Duck Sausage
4 to 6 servings
Here's something else (other than making jerky) you can do with all the ducks considered as trash eaters and therefore unsavory.
Ingredients:
2 cups duck meat, cubed
1 cup pork shoulder, cubed
2 tbsp. butter
1/3 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 celery stick, finely diced
*1 large jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
3 large garlic cloves, finely minced
¼ cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
1 tsp. cracked black pepper, or to taste
1 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
1 egg
Vegetable Oil for sautéing
Mixing Instructions:
Push duck and pork shoulder pieces together through a meat grinder. A food processor will work -if you have a really good one. Do this at least twice to make sure both meats are well mixed. Now place the ground meat mixture in a large bowl and set it aside.
Heat the butter in a large skillet and sauté onion, celery, jalapeno and garlic until onion pieces become translucent. Add the orange juice and cook until liquid is reduced by about one-half. Add black pepper and salt. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool. Once cooled to room temperature, add this mixture to the bowl containing the meat mixture. Add egg and mix thoroughly with a spoon or by hand. Run the whole mess through the grinder or food processor at least one more time.
At this point of operation, you can form the mixture into egg-sized balls, press them into patties and cook them immediately, or you can place them on a cookie sheet and freeze them for vacuum-packaging later, or you could shape the meat into small cookie dough looking loaves before freezing and vacuum-packing.
If you decide to cook, add just enough oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet. Over medium heat, when the oil is sizzling hot, add the patties and sauté on each side until they are well browned and cooked throughout.
* Note to the Chef: If jalapeno peppers are unavailable, use a couple tablespoons of crushed red Chili -the kind you can get when ordering pizza. It's not nearly as good (or mellow) as a fresh jalapeno or two, but it will suffice.