This is another great recipe to stretch the duck meat to feed more mouths!  With just a duck or two, you can create 8 hearty servings of soup. Perfect after a chilly waterfowl hunt.

Sweet Potato and Puddler Duck Soup

Ingredients:

• Skinless, boneless breast meat from 1-2 ducks, cut into small pieces
• 4-6 pieces of bacon
• 1 large sweet onion, such as Vidalia (about 2 cups diced)
• 2 stalks of celery, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 large carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 sweet potatoes or yams, cut into dice sized bites (about 3 cups)
• 4 smallish red potatoes, cut into dice sized bites (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage and thyme or ½ tsp each of dried
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 8 oz. smoked chorizo or Andouille sausage, cut into slices

Preparation:

In a large stock pot, Dutch oven, or slow cooker with a sauté feature, such as an Insta-pot, cook the strips of bacon until crisp over medium high heat. While that is cooking, cut the duck breast meat into small pieces, making sure there is no shot or feathers in the meat.  Remove the crisped bacon from the pot and reserve to go back in the soup later.  Brown the duck breast meat in the bacon fat and seasoning it with a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper and salt and a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning.  Remove the duck meat from the pan and reserve it with the bacon.  Add the onion, celery, and carrot to the pot and sauté until soft, you may need to add a few Tbsp. of butter.  Add the garlic and saute a minute more, stirring to not overly brown the garlic or other veggies.  Sprinkle in the flour and stir to thoroughly combine.  Pour in the chicken stock and stir the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to be sure to get up and browned bits from the bottom of the pan, the “fond”.  Add the sweet potatoes and red potatoes.  Cook about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are soft.  Add the duck meat and bacon, crumbled, back to the soup.  (optional: add sliced sausage to pot).  Add the fresh herbs, turn down the heat to low and add the half-and-half heat.  Season to taste with salt and fresh cracked pepper and perhaps a pinch more Cajun seasoning.