TEAL STUFFED WITH MUSTARD GREENS & SWEET POTATOES

Recipe by: George Graham — Acadiana Table 
Serves: 4 
Prep Time: 30 minutes 
Cook Time: About 3 hours 
Total Time: About 3½ hours 

Ingredients 

• 8 cleaned teal  
• 3 cups chopped mustard greens  
• 2 cups diced Louisiana sweet potatoes, divided  
• 1 cup diced yellow onion  
• 1 cup diced celery  
• ½ tablespoon Cajun seasoning  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt  
• 1 teaspoon black pepper  
• 2 pieces smoked meat, such as ham hock, smoked sausage, or smoked turkey necks (optional)  
• About 8 cups chicken stock, with extra available if needed  
• Cooked Louisiana white rice, for serving  
• Hot sauce, for serving  

These ingredients and quantities are from Graham’s published recipe.  

Instructions 

1. Clean the teal.
   Inspect each bird carefully and remove any remaining pin feathers.
2. Make the stuffing.
   Combine the mustard greens,1 cup of the diced sweet potatoes, onion, and celery. Season the mixture with Cajun seasoning, salt, and black pepper. 
3. Stuff the birds.
   Pack as much of the vegetable mixture as possible into the cavity of eachteal. 
4. Start the braise.
   Arrange the stuffed teal in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add any stuffing mixture you have left over along with the smoked meat.

Pour in enough chicken stock to cover the birds. 

5. Cook it down.
   Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat enough tomaintain a gentle boil. Cook uncovered. 

This is where the recipe gets interesting. As the teal slowly cooks, the stock reduces and concentrates. Graham specifically avoids browning the birds first because the goal is to use the long braise to develop the gravy.  

Continue cooking until the teal are tender and most of the stock has reduced into a thick gravy. Depending on your pot and amount of liquid, expect roughly 1–2 hours for this stage. 

6. Add the remaining sweet potatoes.
   Add the final cup of diced sweet potatoes along with about 2 cups of water oradditional stock. 

Cover the pot and simmer another 10–15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the liquid once again reduces into gravy. 

7. Serve.
   Put a mound of hot white rice on each plate, add a couple ofteal, and spoon that mustard-green and sweet-potato gravy generously over everything. 

Serve hot sauce on the side.  

George Graham’s Notes 

The smoked meat is there primarily to season the gravy, so it can be discarded afterward or eaten. Graham also points out that the recipe scales up easily—you can stack the teal in a larger Dutch oven for a hunting-camp-sized batch. The exact amount of stock will vary depending on the size and shape of your pot.