Duck and Orange Skillet, Camp Version
Duck breast seared over a grill grate, finished in an orange-ginger glaze made from juice powder.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 120 ml cold
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Boneless duck breasts, skin on | 4 | packed frozen, thaws in the cooler over a day |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered orange juice concentrate | 6 tbsp | reconstitutes to about 1 cup total |
| White vinegar | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Dried rosemary | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic | 3 cloves | or 1 tsp granulated |
| Brown sugar | 2 tbsp plus 1 tsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cornstarch | 1 tsp | |
| Butter | 1 tbsp | ghee if the cooler ice is unreliable |
Method
- At home, mix the rosemary, 1 tsp salt, the pepper, and 1 tsp brown sugar in one bag. Mix the ginger, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and the cornstarch in a second bag. Carry the juice powder in a third.
- In camp, stir 3 tbsp juice powder into 120 ml cold water. Add the vinegar and a crushed garlic clove. Pour it over the duck in a zip bag and let it sit in the cooler at least two hours, four if you have them.
- Build a bed of coals and set a grate over it. Pull the duck out, wipe it dry, and score the skin in a diamond pattern without cutting the meat. Rub the spice bag over both sides.
- Lay the breasts skin down over the coals. Ten to twelve minutes, moving them off direct heat when the fat flares. Flip and cook another eight to ten. Pull at medium rare. Duck is red meat and does not need to go further.
- Rest the breasts on a plate. Set a skillet on the grate with the butter and the remaining garlic, minced. Thirty seconds, no browning.
- Stir the remaining 3 tbsp juice powder into 120 ml cold water, add the sauce bag, and pour it in. Simmer and stir until it coats the spoon, about three minutes. Slice the duck and spoon the sauce over.
Duck is a car-camping protein, not a backpacking one. It needs a cooler and it needs a real fire, but it rewards both: the skin renders its own fat, so the breast fries in a pool it makes itself and you carry no cooking oil for it.
The original called for fresh-squeezed juice twice, once in the marinade and once in the sauce. Powdered concentrate does both jobs without a cooler slot or a citrus that turns to pulp by day two. Cornstarch is what makes the sauce cling instead of running off; skip it and the glaze pools under the meat. Cook over coals, not flame, since rendering fat drips and flares.
Packing
Duck goes in the cooler bottom, frozen, doubled in zip bags so the marinade later has a container. Three labeled spice bags and the juice powder ride in the dry box. The butter can stay in its wrapper inside a jar.
Variations
- Instant mashed potatoes made with the pan drippings absorb the sauce that would otherwise be left on the plate.
- No duck at the store: this works on thick pork chops with the same timing.
- Half a fresh orange squeezed in at the end if you brought one; the powder handles the sugar, the fruit adds back the bitterness.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/grilled-duck-breast-with-orange-sauce