Take a look at this great article written by Larry Rea in the April 10th Outdoor section of the Commercial Appeal, about Vicki Patterson and her great tasting, easy to prepare Duck.

Who's going to cook these ducks?

Fowl need not be foul if you've got the right chef. Did you know many avid duck hunters don't like to eat duck? Most say it's because of the taste. Others complain about the texture. And then, there are those who don't like the way it is cooked.

There is hope for those non-lovers of what many of us consider a Mid-South delicacy. Her name is Vicki Patterson and she's from Hagerman, Idaho. She's mastered some techniques that this petite mother of four said will make even the most ardent anti-duck eating person beg for more has called in, shot and killed, and cooked more duck than probably 90-plus percent of the Mid-South's duck hunters. We're talking about a man who owns Memphis-based Buck Gardner Calls and whose resume includes Champion of Champions duck caller. For four nights last week, Gardner and his wife, Marlene, had different groups of friends over to their home for five-course meals featuring duck. It was all part of Gardner's recent decision to go into a business partnership with Patterson. She owns a catering business in an area that, besides being a high-volume tourist destination about 90 minutes from Idaho's Sun Valley ski resort, is also a major stopping off point for migrating ducks. What better way to show off Patterson's duck-cooking abilities than over dinner? After all, that's the way Patterson first got involved in cooking duck. "I had a customer of mine (Memphis businessman John Shaw, who owns Hagerman Wings Farm in Idaho) come to me and asked if I'd cook some ducks for him," Patterson said as she prepared one of last week's meals in the kitchen of the Gardner's home. "He told me how much he loved the way I cooked. I told him I'd never eaten any duck. I hated duck. Duck, I thought, was nasty. I told him to bring me a duck and I'd practice." At the end of that first week of experimenting with different dishes Patterson said she was up to five courses of duck, not counting all the ducks she'd "thrown out" that didn't meet her taste and appearance qualifications. "I mean it was not an easy battle," Patterson said. "I'd eat it and if I couldn't fix it (right), out it went. I was going to get it right. I'm tenacious that way. John came in that Friday night and I was scared to death. He walked into my kitchen and told me, 'Hey, girl, I've got this guy with me who'd just sold his company in New York for $550 million.' "I told him he could have waited until after the meal to tell me that," she said with a laugh. After feasting on three courses of the five-course duck meal Patterson had cooked the guy from New York told her how much he was enjoying the meal. From there, more people started wanting to try some of Patterson's duck-cooking abilities. Patterson has not only masteredcooking duck, but has published a book that includes her three basic rules: It's just duck: Like chicken, pork or beef. We learned to cook these. We can cook duck. Don't be afraid: Ninety-nine percent of the people you ask don't like duck. We can fix that. Use what you know: We all have our favorite dishes, family recipes and seasonings. We canbuild from there. Her self-published book is entitled "I Can't Believe It's Duck" and is currently being updated through a partnership agreement with Gardner's company. "There's a market for this because the men love to hunt it (duck)," Patterson said. "The women don't like it in their freezers. ... I think I have saved marriages across Southern Idaho." Patterson said she sold out the first printing of her book twice. That's when Gardner asked Patterson to be a part of his call business's booth at several major outdoor shows, including probably the biggest of them all, the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. "Vicki is coming in with us and we're also going to do seasonings, marinates and rubs and dipping sauces and stuff like that," Gardner said. "All that will be a joint venture. So, Vickie is not coming with us as an employee. She's coming in as a partner in the food side of the business. The book will be product of Buck Gardner Calls." Visitors to Gardner's booth at the SHOT Show at one time were lined up 60 feet down the aisle to taste some of Patterson's duck delicacies she was cooking in the 10-foot booth. One of her specialties is getting the duck to not taste like liver, which is a major reason some people won't eat duck. The key to getting rid of that liver look and taste, Patterson said, is once you get the meat off the grill is to "flash it" in the frying pan as quickly as possible. That seals each strip of meat and keeps the flavor absorbed in the meat. "That makes every one of the strips moist and tender more like steak," Patterson said. On this night, Patterson's menu included: Smokey duck and bacon dip, Jamaican duck salad featuring Jamaican seasoning, duck parmesan with butter herb noodles featuring Italian rub, Rocky Mountain green beans featuring "Rocky Mountain Rub" and ice cream with caramelized Kaluha topping. The meal was also a picture-taking session for local photographer Troy Glasgow to be
included in her updated book. Gardner expects the new book to be on the market within six weeks. Sportsman's Warehouse has already agreed to stock the book, he said. Commitments have also been secured, Gardner said, from Cabela's, Bass Pro and Gander Mountain. For l information call 946-2996 or check out Gardner's Web site at www.buckgardner.com.

By Larry Rea, Special to The Commercial Appeal
April 10, 2005

For additional information, please contact Buck Gardner at 1-901-946-2996.