Old Timber Outdoors
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Wild duck legs and thighs

Slow Cooker Wild Duck Legs with White Beans

The legs most hunters throw away, cooked low with white beans, tomato, thyme and a little smoked sausage.

Serves
4
Hands-on
35 min
Total
8 hr 25 min
Skill
Easy

Slow cooker · Dinner

Ingredients

  • 1½ lbWild duck legs and thighs, legs and thighs from about 6 to 8 ducks
  • 2 cans (15 oz)Canned white beans, such as cannellini or great northern, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (14.5 oz)Canned diced tomatoes, with juice
  • 1Onions, diced
  • 2Carrots, diced
  • 4 clovesGarlic, minced
  • 1½ tspSalt, kosher, plus more to taste
  • ½ tspBlack pepper, ground
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 4 oz smoked sausage, sliced
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice, to finish

You'll need

Slow cooker, Stovetop, Cast iron skillet, Instant-read thermometer.

Check labels

Smoked sausage can contain dairy, soy or gluten. Check the label.

Method

  1. Thaw the duck legs completely in the refrigerator first; never start a slow cooker with frozen meat. Pat them dry and season with 1 tsp of the salt and the pepper.
  2. Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat and brown the legs well, about 3 minutes per side. Move them to a plate, then brown the smoked sausage in the same pan, about 3 minutes.
  3. Put the onion, carrot, garlic and the remaining ½ tsp salt in the slow cooker. Lay the legs on top and add the sausage. Pour the stock into the hot skillet, scrape up the browned bits, and pour it in with the tomatoes, thyme and bay leaf.
  4. Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours. Stir in the beans and cook 1 to 1½ hours more, until the meat is tender and slides off the bones. It passes 165°F long before that; tenderness decides.
  5. Lift out the legs, pull the meat from the bones, and discard the bones, skin and tendons. Skim any fat from the top, stir the meat back in and remove the bay leaf.
  6. Stir in the vinegar or lemon juice, taste for salt, and serve hot.

When it's done: fork-tender

Game bird legs, thighs and other hard-working pieces are done when the meat slides off the bone or pulls apart with a fork. They pass the federal 165°F for poultry long before they turn tender, so keep cooking until they do; if the meat is still tight, it needs more time, not more heat.

If it goes wrong

Meat still tight on the bone
Cook another hour on LOW.
Too thin
Mash a cup of the beans against the side of the pot and stir them in.
Tastes flat
Add a pinch more salt and a little more vinegar; beans soak up seasoning.
Bits of shot
Pick them out as you pull the meat; check closely around the thighs.

Leftovers. Refrigerate within 2 hours. Reheat leftovers to 165°F.