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Wild duck rissoles with braised peas, lovage and spring onions

Tim Maddams elevates frozen mallard and wigeon into simple, flavourful rissoles, perfect for enjoying alongside a cold beer

Two breadcrumbed wild duck rissoles beside braised peas with spring onion on a grey plate
Crisp outside, pink in the middle, with peas braised in butter and lovage. Credit: John Paul
Tim MaddamsTim Maddams

I love duck flighting, but as I get older I’m becoming more environmentally aware – I only wish to sip at the edges that nature can afford to share. Sometimes the flight passes by entirely and on those occasions I am grown up enough to accept that this is all part of how hunting ought to be.

Sometimes you find yourself in the thick of it and the sky fills with wigeon hurling themselves towards your decoys. During such flights there is a temptation to keep on shooting. But it’s essential that you have the restraint to unload. There is a lot of joy to be found in watching birds, as well as harvesting them.

What to do with frozen mallard and wigeon

I often store some duck meat in the freezer for a treat later in the year and this recipe is the result of that – duck is perfect with a cold beer. You will certainly find that mallard works equally well on its own, but I happened to have a mixed pack of mallard and wigeon.

Rissoles conjure up in my mind some serious crimes against cuisine, committed in the 1980s by hard-pressed dinner ladies. But I can assure you that these really are nothing like those gristly lamb offerings of your schooldays.

This dish has the advantage of being quick and simple to prepare – except the mincing, which may be a challenge or an equipment issue – and can be prepared in advance ready to fry when needed.

You may find it hard to get hold of lovage as a herb, but it is well worth persevering to find some. If you have no success, you could get by with some celery leaf and parsley as a reasonable substitute.

  • Prep time: 1 hour
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Serves: 2
  • Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

You will need a mincer and a small pastry cutter ring.

  • 2 wigeon breasts and 2 mallard breasts
  • Salt and pepper
  • Pinch of mace
  • A few fennel seeds
  • A sprig of thyme
  • ½ an onion, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 50g flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 50g breadcrumbs
  • Frying oil
  • 30g butter
  • 1 spring onion
  • 200g frozen peas
  • 3 leaves of lovage
  • A dash of good cider vinegar

How to make wild duck rissoles with braised peas – step by step

  • Step 1. Dice the duck breasts and mince them using a medium mincing plate. They shouldn’t be mush, but the texture needs to be taken down significantly. Season the mince and add a pinch of mace, a few lightly crushed fennel seeds, the leaves from a sprig of thyme, the finely diced onion and one of the garlic cloves, finely grated. Mix everything together well.
  • Step 2. Lightly oil a 5cm pastry ring and divide the meat into six even amounts. Press them firmly into the rings, then set them aside and refrigerate for at least half an hour to help them set a little. Once firm, dust them in flour, dip them in beaten egg and coat in breadcrumbs. Pop them back in the fridge and begin carefully heating the frying oil to 180°C.
  • Step 3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then slice and add the other clove of garlic and chopped spring onion. Sweat that for a few minutes, then add the frozen peas, season and cover with a lid. Leave the heat on medium, add a splash of water if it needs it and keep checking on it now and again to make sure things are braising away in the pan. This takes around 10 minutes.
  • Step 4. Fry the duck rissoles for around three minutes each, until they are golden brown. Rest them on kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil. They should be lightly firm and springy to the touch, but they should still be nicely pink in the middle when they are served.
  • Step 5. Once the peas are softened, turn down the heat. Add a dash of good cider vinegar and the chopped lovage, then let them simply braise for another minute or so. Serve the rissoles with the peas.

Tips for the best wild duck rissoles

The rissoles can be shaped, crumbed and kept in the fridge ahead of time, ready to fry when needed. Start the peas while the frying oil comes up to 180°C, so both are ready together. Mallard works equally well on its own if you have no wigeon, and if you cannot find lovage, a little celery leaf and parsley will do instead. Serve the rissoles still nicely pink in the middle.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use frozen duck breasts for rissoles?

Yes. Tim Maddams made these with mallard and wigeon breasts he had stored in the freezer for a treat later in the year.

Can I make duck rissoles with just mallard?

Yes. Mallard works equally well on its own; this recipe uses two wigeon and two mallard breasts because that was the mixed pack to hand.

What can I use instead of lovage?

Lovage can be hard to find. Some celery leaf and parsley make a reasonable substitute in the braised peas.

Should duck rissoles be pink in the middle?

Yes. Fry them for around three minutes each until golden brown; they should be lightly firm and springy to the touch but still nicely pink in the middle when served.

Related articles

Recipe for a trio of duck with redcurrant jelly, glazed apple and game jus – Teal, wigeon and mallard on one plate.

Crispy chilli duck recipe – Another way to fry wild duck.

Confit duck with seasonal winter spices – A slower route for the legs.

Partridge goujons – so delicious the kids will fight over them – More crumbed and fried game.

Tim Maddams

About the author

Tim Maddams

A chef, food writer, cookery teacher and broadcaster, Tim grew up on his family's farm in Wiltshire and cooked with Fergus Henderson, Alistair Little, Marco Pierre White and Mark Hix, and ran VIP catering for the Ferrari Formula One team in Europe, before returning west to join Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as head chef at River Cottage in Axminster, appearing regularly on the Channel 4 series and the Fish Fight campaign. He founded Green Sauce in 2012, teaching, cooking and consulting on ethical food, and moved to Moray in 2020. He is the author of Game: River Cottage Handbook No 15 and the River Cottage A to Z, and a shooting man himself, taking woodpigeon, pheasants, duck, geese, rabbits and deer. He writes on game cookery for Shooting Times.

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