Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Duck Confit


I've always wanted to do my own confit, but had never really gotten around to it 'til now. Hank Shaw's post on Simply Recipes convinced me to finally do it: perfect confit in only two hours! How could I pass that up? And the best part is, this really was the best duck confit I've ever had. Tender meat, super crispy skin, plenty of fat leftover for future cooking.

You'll need:
duck legs (1-2 per person)
salt
a pin or small sharp knife

Prick the skin on the duck legs all over with a pin or pointy knife. Don't go all the way to the meat-- you just want to make little holes for the fat to escape through the skin. Sprinkle pricked legs with lots of salt and let sit 20-60 minutes.


Place duck skin side up in baking dish that's just large enough. Put in oven at 300 degrees (don't preheat) and let cook slowly for about 90 minutes.


When the skin starts to look crispy, crank up the oven to 375 until it's really crispy-- about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes before eating.

If there are leftovers, eat the skin off of them *now* because it'll never be as good again.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is amazing.

Anonymous said...

This looks so delicious! I have never made duck before, but it sounds simple. Was it easy to do?

Since you've been in France, your food presentation seems a little drab (in other words, not your usual, bright, coordinated meals)- perhaps the weather is poor there?

purplecook said...

Anon2: The duck was super easy. The weather's been pretty bad-- today it finally hit temperatures above freezing-- but mostly we just don't have a lot of bright indoor light, and our dinners have been late enough that there's no hope of natural light. I've also not really had the time or patience to stage good shots. I'll work on it!

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook said...

Glad you liked the recipe! And this is just the "fast" technique -- real, home-cured confit is even better!

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