Braised Mallard in Portabella Bordelaise Sauce
By Dan Nelson, Editor

Eat it While it’s Hot—Not! And Other Cooking Tips From Chef Jeff Garlie * Mother always told us to eat food while it’s hot, but Chef Jeff says that’s a mistake.  “Resting” meats like roast duck allows the muscle to relax, which lets the juices redistribute.  If you cut the meat too soon and all the juices will run out on the plate.  Resting foods also allows the flavors to set and intensify.  Jeff recommends placing the cooked dish in a warm place for 15 to as much as 25 minutes before serving.  Keep in mind that the bird will continue to cook after it’s been removed from the oven or grill, so you want to remove it before it reaches the desired doneness. Here are some other wild-game tips from Jeff: * “Use lots of fresh herbs and spices.  Cooking isn’t an exact science.  Be creative, be daring.  Throw in a bunch of fresh basil, rosemary or thyme.  And garlic—I use garlic in just about everything.” *  “It’s very important to clean your birds thoroughly. Get everything out of the cavity—everything.  Those little membranes can totally change the flavor of the bird.” * “Don’t overcook game.  Nothing ruins duck like overcooking it.  You might as well throw it away.” * “Soak ducks in milk and onion overnight. Soaking will pull out ‘the bad stuff’—the blood and the wild taste.” *  “Clean birds thoroughly, drain and pat dry.  Then carefully wrap for freezing.  The absolute best way is a vacuum sealer.  I like to wrap the meat in Saran Wrap, then vacuum seal it.”

Elapsed time: 10 minutes, tops.

And this is just prep work; the heavy lifting comes later: On a busy night Chef Jeff will push 150 to 180 gourmet entrées through his ergonomically correct, stainless-steel kitchen.

A typical workday for Jeff begins 10 in the morning and ends 12 hours later, if he’s lucky.  It’s a schedule he keeps six days a week, 50 weeks a year (every Monday he hangs out the “gone hunting” or “gone fishing” sign).

Despite the frenetic pace, the 43-year-old Minnesota restaurateur couldn’t be happier.  “This is the last place I’ll ever work,” he says.  “I’m living my dream.  I love it here.”

Jeff honed his culinary skills under French chef Daniel Hubert at the Hotel Sofitel in Minneapolis, where he mastered, among other things, the art of sauce-making.  He later served as executive chef at the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club near his hometown of Prior Lake, specializing in wild cuisine.

Despite his success as a big-market chef, Jeff’s love of the outdoors was calling him to the backwoods, and when a rustic restaurant on the shore of Lake Alexander went on the market he and his wife Melissa took the plunge.  They renamed their restaurant The Landing, and it was an instant hit with vacationers and residents alike.

That was eight years ago, and customers are still coming back for favorites like bleu cheese-crusted New York strips with portabella-bordelaise sauce and crab-baked walleye with lemon beurre blanc.

We asked Jeff to share one of his favorite duck recipes, and he graciously obliged with a recipe for braised wild mallard with mushroom and Chambord bordelaise sauce and wild rice pilaf.   The rice recipe is even better with morel mushrooms if they’re available, and is worthy of a meal all by itself.

If you ever find yourself in the Brainerd area—between the towns of Pillager and Randall to be precise—be sure to stop in for dinner. But not on Mondays—that’s Jeff’s hunting and fishing day.

For the Wild Rice Pilaf

In a skillet over medium-high heat, sauté:

• 1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
• 1/4 pound thick bacon, diced

Do not drain the grease.  When the meat is cooked, add and sauté until tender:

• 1/4 cup onions, diced
• 1/4 cup celery, diced
• 1/4 cup carrot, diced
• 1 cup portabella mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon garlic

Remove from heat and combine with:

• 1 pound wild rice, cooked
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds

Season the mixture with:

• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste

Set pan in a warm place until serving.

For the Duck and Sauce

Tuck a couple pats of butter under the skin of two mallards, place in a small roasting pan and bake in a 300-degree oven, covered, for one hour.

When the duck is cooked, split in half lengthwise, keeping the breast and thigh bones intact.  Put the pieces on a plate and keep in a warm place while you prepare the sauce.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, sauté:

• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup celery, diced
• 1 pound of mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced

Cook until tender, then add:

• 1/2 cup Chambord liqueur
• 1/2 cup Burgundy wine
• 1/2 cup duck stock (or low-sodium beef broth)
• 1 tablespoon thyme

Return the duck to the sauce and place in a 350-degree oven, covered, for one hour. 

Remove the duck and thicken the sauce with:

• 1/4 cup of roux

Plate the rice, place a duck breast over the rice and drizzle with the sauce.  Garnish with some fresh raspberries (Chambord is a raspberry-flavored liqueur) and serve.