Duck Confit

Duck Confit

September 19, 2017

Servings: 2

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 2 hr

Total: 2 hr 20 min

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By: A Wholesome New World

Directions

• Step 1 In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf pieces. Rub a generous amount of the salt mixture all over the duck legs, into the skin and flesh. Place legs in a glass pan in one layer. Cover and chill for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
• Step 2 When you are ready to cook, heat oven to 325 degrees. Place duck legs, fat side down, in a large cast iron skillet (depending on the size of the legs, you may have to use two skillets or cook them in batches). Heat duck legs over medium-high heat until fat starts to render. After about 20 minutes, there should be about 1/4 cup of rendered fat in pan.
• Step 3 Flip the duck legs, cover pan with tinfoil, and place it in the preheated oven. If you have multiple batches, you can always place the legs in a roasting pan with the fat. Cook for 1 hour with the tinfoil on the pan.
• Step 4 After 1 hour, remove tinfoil and continue roasting until duck is golden brown and starts to shrink off the bone, about 1 hour more. Remove duck from fat, scrape any excess fat off the meat and serve.

The leaves are starting to change and Friday’s the first day of fall, so I am already dreaming up cozy fall dinners to feature on the blog. Duck Confit is one of those dishes that I will definitely be serving up as the temperature drops. This recipe screams “rustic comfort food” and while it may sound intimidating (French recipes tend to seem that way sometimes!), it is actually easier than you would expect. We got a run down from our favorite duck vendor at the local farmer’s market one weekend, who actually inspired us to make this dish.

The key to this recipe is curing it overnight, which really requires minimal effort from you. Just season the ducks legs, cover and refrigerate and let the curing commence. The nice thing about this recipe is that there’s not a lot of active time required. The duck practically does the work for you! We did a very basic salt and herb preparation for the curing, but you can always mix it up and incorporate other flavors like garlic, onion, Herbes de Provence, etc. This is really more like a dry brine than a cure, but its a critical step in the process.

When you’re ready to cook, the cast iron skillet is your best friend. Now it’s all about cooking off that fat, ie. the essence of “confit” – a French technique for cooking and preserving duck legs in fat. **Make sure to place the fat side down, skin side up in the pan – I actually had to Google this to make sure I was doing it right so see below image if you’re still unclear! The rendered duck fat from this recipe can conveniently can be reused for duck fat potatoes (we’re all about recycling in our kitchen!).

I have to admit, we went a little duck-crazy the first time we made this and served the confit with duck fat potatoes.  I know this sounds like we went overboard, but in southwest France, confit is traditionally served with “pommes sarladaises” – fries cooked in duck fat in a pan. Alternatively, the dish also pairs really well with cauliflower mash (also pictured) and/or simple roasted root vegetables.