Old Timber Outdoors
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Wild duck breast fillets

Campfire Wild Duck and Potato Foil Packets

Cubed duck breast, small-diced potatoes, carrot and onion sealed in foil with garlic butter and rosemary and cooked on the coals, with the duck added late so it stays tender.

Serves
4
Hands-on
25 min
Total
55 min
Skill
Easy

Cooks on: Campfire · Dinner

Ingredients

  • 1½ lbWild duck breast fillets, skinless, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1½ lbPotatoes, cut into ½-inch dice
  • 1Onions, cut into thin wedges
  • 2Carrots, thinly sliced
  • 4 clovesGarlic, minced
  • 4 tbspButter, cut into small pieces
  • 2 tspSalt
  • ½ tspBlack pepper, ground
  • 4 sheets heavy-duty aluminum foil, about 18 inches long
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

You'll need

  • Campfire with grate or coals
  • Instant-read thermometer

Helpful: grill.

Contains

Dairy.

Method

  1. Let the fire burn down to a bed of glowing coals with no tall flames.
  2. In a bowl, toss the potatoes, onion and carrots with half the garlic, half the salt, the pepper and the rosemary. Divide among the foil sheets, dot each with half the butter, and fold each sheet into a packet with tightly double-folded seams, leaving a little room inside for steam.
  3. Set the packets on a grate over the coals, or directly on a flat bed of coals, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning them with tongs every 5 to 10 minutes, until a potato is nearly tender when pierced through the foil with a skewer.
  4. Meanwhile, toss the duck in the same bowl with the oil, smoked paprika and the remaining garlic and salt, and keep it cold. The duck needs far less time than the potatoes; cooked together from the start, it turns gray and rubbery long before they soften.
  5. Pull the packets off the heat and open them carefully, away from your face, since the steam is very hot. Lay the duck on top of the vegetables in a single layer, dot with the rest of the butter, and reseal.
  6. Return the packets to the coals, duck side up, without turning, for 8 to 12 minutes. Open one and check the thickest cube with an instant-read thermometer: take the packets off as soon as it reads 165°F. If it is not there yet, reseal and check again every 3 minutes.
  7. Stir the duck through the buttery vegetables and serve right in the foil.

When it's done: 165°F

The federal chart lists poultry at 165°F, and Kansas State University Extension says to fully cook game birds to at least 165°F. Check the thickest part with an instant-read thermometer.

If it goes wrong

Duck tough and gray
It cooked too long. Add it only for the last 8 to 12 minutes and pull the packets the moment the thickest cube reads 165°F.
Potatoes still hard
Cut them smaller next time, and give the vegetable packets 5 more minutes before adding the duck.
Bottom burning
The coals were too hot or still flaming. Rake them thinner or raise the grate, and turn the packets more often during the first stage.
Packets leaking
Use heavy-duty foil and double-fold every seam, and reseal along the same folds.

Leftovers. Keep the raw duck in a cooler at 40°F or below until cooking. Serve right away; refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat to 165°F.