One of my favorite ways to serve duck breast is to make bacon and jalapeño poppers. Sportsmen have been making these tasty appetizers for decades. I know you may be thinking that they are cliché, but these are different. That’s the great thing about poppers; there are so many variations in recipes. You can make poppers with any type of wild game meat and they are sure to be delicious. You can also choose to bake them or grill them. When it comes to poppers you cannot really go wrong. Be creative too, it never hurts to add or subtract ingredients. My father and I gave this a try one night and they turned out perfect and I can’t really take full credit because it was his idea. You can serve the poppers as a meal with some wild rice and pan cooked asparagus, or you can have them as an appetizer. These make for great finger foods if you are having a large crowd over because you can make 60 in no time. It also helps if you have a sous-chef to help prepare the dish, I like to have my sous-chef put the cream cheese on the meat and before I wrap them in bacon. This recipe can also be grilled but I prefer to cook it in the oven so that the brown sugar, maple syrup, and bourbon have a chance to soak into the poppers. Also you can collect the juices from the pan and pour over the poppers when served to add extra flavor.  The ingredients are listed below and below the ingredients are the steps in order.

Ingredients

•    4 Medium sized duck breasts
•    ¼ pound of cream cheese (average sized container)
•    1 package of sliced uncooked bacon
•    1 jar of jalapenos
•    Brown sugar
•    Maple syrup
•    A splash of Bourbon (don’t get too excited the alcohol will cook out of it)
•    Toothpicks

Directions

1.    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2.    First cut the duck breast evenly into thirds
3.    Give each piece of meat a liberal scoop of cream cheese
4.    Place one jalapeno on each popper
5.    Cut the bacon into roughly 4 inch strips
6.    Tip: try and roll the duck breasts to make like a bowl to hold the cream cheese and jalapeño
7.    Wrap each breast cut in a strip of bacon and then stick a toothpick through both sides
8.    I like to butter the pan to add a bit of flavor but this is optional
9.    Place poppers on the pan
10. Drizzle a hearty serving of maple syrup over each popper
11.   Pour a little bit of bourbon over the poppers
12.   Get a pinch full of brown sugar and sprinkle over the poppers
13.   Place the poppers in the oven and cook for roughly 30-45 minutes
14.   Once the bacon is done the poppers are done and the duck will be cooked perfectly
15.   If placed on a serving dish, pour the leftover sauce onto the poppers (optional)
16.   Enjoy!