Duck "poppers".....

This weekend has been great, filled with lots of family time. Miles and I are enjoying a very rare four day weekend with my husband. Friday was spent relaxing, playing outside, and eating leftovers...of course. Several pumpkins were left from my brother's wedding, fall decorating and Halloween. Miles wanted to have archery target practice with one and it was the perfect day. Afterwards he tried out pumpkin carving with his new pocket knife.

While the boys played I took a little walk around our yard. It was such a gorgeous day. My father in law has an amazing garden that grows lots of delicious food right near my house. This year he planted a fall garden after the summer garden quit prodicing. Currently it is full of cabbages, lettuces and greens aplenty. I only have a small porch garden with mostly herbs with one pequin pepper plant.Unlike his garden, it is on its way out for the season. My herb plants did provid me with lots of great  fresh herbs all summer and most of the fall. On the other side of his garden is a peaceful little pond that usually has birds, turtles, dragonflies and fish. I tried to get a picture of some of our pond wildlife but they all escaped before my camera was ready. 

Duck Breast in Marinade

Today has been more of an indoor day, although it was just as beautiful outside. We made homemade yogurt (not sure if this worked yet), lasagna and duck jalapeno "poppers". My brother-in-law went hunting a couple days prior to Thanksgiving  and brought home some ducks. He made fresh duck "poppers" as a pre-dinner appetizer on Thursday. Man they were so delicious!! He had a few extra duck breasts left so he gave them to me. I asked for his recipe and this is my attempt. My version turned out pretty great but his were way better. Three reasons why his were better; they were cooked on the BBQ, he put regular yellow onions in them (I had shallots) and he used plain bacon (I only had maple). When he gave me the duck breasts, all the hard work had been done. They were even already marinated in what looked like Italian dressing. Per his instructions I cut the duck into bite sized pieces, then sliced up some fresh jalapenos, cream cheese, and shallots. Now everything was ready to wrap and skewer. I only had bacon ends and pieces (my husband uses it make homemade sausage) and for some reason it is maple flavored. I have never like maple bacon, so I would choose regular or even peppered bacon instead. 

Stacked up and ready to roll

My brother in law suggested using two tooth picks to hold the bacon on. I found this worked quite well, although a lot of the cheese still came out. However, this was due to the bacon pieces being so inconsistent, it was really hard to nicely wrap each piece. I then baked them until the bacon was crispy and brown. YUM YUM YUM!! I think they would be great for any kind of BBQ, the super bowl or as a tailgating treat. I am sure they could even be made using any kind of meat.

Duck "poppers"

1 pkg cream cheese, cut into small pieces

3 fresh jalapenos, seeded and thinly sliced

1 onion, cut into small pieces

4 small duck breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 pkg bacon of choice, slices cut into thirds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or light and heat grill. Make an assembly line of ingredients. This ensures that when your hands are covered in raw meat you don't have to go searching around for anything. Lay out 1 piece of bacon, top it with one bit of duck, cream cheese, jalapeno, and onion. Wrap the bacon around horizontally, securing it with a toothpick. Then wrap it vertically with another piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Bake or grill until bacon is browned and crispy.