Duck Confit

So, I(Derek this time) decided to try my hand at making some Duck confit for the first time since I’ve worked in a restaurant. Lindsay and I took a trip down to Manhattan to pick up the required duck legs and duck fat that you can’t find just sitting around in the Bronx. I decided to combine 2 recipes, one by Anthony Bourdain and one by Thomas Keller with a little bit of my own twist.

First, the duck legs need to be cured overnight in a herb-salt mixture consisting of kosher/sea salt, brown sugar, chopped thyme, crushed bay leaf and crushed black peppercorns. I also threw in some Herbs de Provence.



Combine these well and then measure out 2 tablespoons for every pound of duck leg.



I then took the duck legs out of the packaging they came in and rinsed them off to remove any excess blood or nasty stuff they come with.



Rub the herb salt on the duck legs, cover with plastic, and refrigerate overnight.



When you are ready to cook them, rinse the legs under cold water removing most, but not all of the salt. Place them in a pan with some fresh Thyme, Rosemary and Garlic.



Now, the important part, take the duck fat, approximately 1 cup for every leg and heat it until it is completely melted and clear.



Pour the melted fat over the duck legs so they are as completely covered as you can get them. It’s not cheating if you use a little olive oil in addition to get them completely submerged.



Now, the part the different recipes disagree on. Bourdain says cook them at 375F for 1 hour. Keller says 200F for 6 hours. I compromised and did 300F for about 2 and half hours. Really it doesn’t matter as long as the meat gets cooked, it’s cooking in fat, so it’s going to be tender. To tell when the duck legs are finished, you will notice that the meat around the ‘knuckle’ of the leg has pulled away leaving a bare bone. You can also use a meat thermometer and check for 170, or you can pierce it with a knife and as long as no bloody liquid comes out, it’s done.



After you are done cooking it, place the duck legs in some kind of container in which you can completely cover the meat with that fat you cooked it in. As long as all the meat is covered by fat you can refrigerate it like this for up to 6 months.



It’s fine to eat the duck like now, but you are better off letting it sit in the fat for at least 2 or 3 days before using it.

2 of these legs are for a Cassoulet I have planned soon and the other will be for seeing how it turned out in a few days. More on both later.