> What about it? Anyone here eat scaup? If so, how do you cook them?
Yes, I eat them. Actually, among diving ducks, scaup are among the least gamey flavored. I love eating diving ducks because they inspire me to use one of my favorite recipes for cooking strong-flavored waterfowl (including mergansers!). In fact, just this week, my wife and I feasted on some buffleheads that fell to my gun on the last day of duck season. She, who normally is quite sensitive to strong flavored game, declared them delicious!
I pull the breasts, and if they are larger than buffleheads or hooded mergansers, I slice the breast lengthwise so I have 4 relatively thin breast steaks. These are then soaked in a light baking soda bath for an hour, removed, rinsed, and then placed into a marinade (I like a teriaki marinade) for at least 2 hours. Then I either grill them quickly on both sides (no more than a minute on each side), and eat them w/ mustard sauce, or I saute them in an oil/wine/onion/mushroom sauce in a fry pan for just a few minutes. They are best when medium rare. I have had several friends over to taste these ducks after they have ribbed me for killing "shit ducks", and they have all gone away saying that they had a different view of these birds as table fare.