Philly-Style Duck Sandwiches

Buck is an avid duck hunter, and of course, Teak is a mighty retriever now.  When Buck told me that he wanted to try a new duck recipe, I wasn't terribly interested.  Ducks haven't ever been my favorite.

Anyway, these duck sandwiches turned out AMAZING.  I'm not exaggerating; they were fantastic.  I went from being a skeptic to a believer just because of this recipe.  I really do look forward to Buck making these again.  

If you are also a skeptic or just don't want to use ducks, I'm sure it would be great with chicken or steak.  It would also be great wrapped up in a tortilla because these are very similar to fajitas, but the bun (we used potato rolls) were good because they absorbed some of the juices. 

The recipe from ducks.org says to use 3 cups of thinly sliced duck breast fillets for four servings; I'm not exactly sure how many cups we had, but I do know that it was the breasts from two wood ducks for our two sandwiches.  You can count one duck per sandwich.

I highly recommend that you try these.  If you're friends with a hunter, he (or she) probably has some duck breasts in a freezer somewhere, and this is the recipe you should try!

Philly-Style Duck Sandwiches (makes 2 sandwiches)

2 wood duck breast fillets, very thinly sliced (Place the duck breasts in the freezer for an hour or two to firm up before slicing as thinly as possible with a sharp, thin-bladed knife.)

1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Tabasco sauce
2 slices pepper jack cheese
Rolls

In a medium bowl, combine half the olive oil with the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Add the duck slices and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for two hours. 

Heat the remaining oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are lightly browned. Mound the onion mixture on one side of the skillet. Add the marinated duck to the other side of the skillet and stir-fry for two to three minutes. Once cooked, season with a dash of Tabasco sauce. 

Combine the meat and onion mixture. Form into two rectangular mounds, top with cheese, and cook until the cheese is melted. Fill each roll with the meat, onion, and cheese mixture.