Are You Daffy About Daffy?, Part Two – Confit = Oui Oui!

 

One of the most tantalizing and titillating phrases to have ever been coined in the food world is “cooked in its own juices.”  Ron Popeil has made millions of dollars off of this phrase…and, of course, “set it and forget it.”  The thought of a nice piece of meat or fish cooking in its own juices makes my saliva glands go from 1st to 6th gear in a flash.  How can you best such a seemingly perfect cooking method?  How can you achieve better flavor and texture?  How can you possibly up the wow factor?  Cook meat in its own fat…that’s how.  That’s right.  Today’s post is going to focus on one of the most prized and celebrated French dishes, duck confit.

Duck confit is simply duck legs cured briefly in salt and then cooked and stored in duck fat.  This cooking method originated well before refrigeration and was created in order to preserve meats by submerging the freshly cooked, still hot duck legs in hot fat prior to storing, thereby protecting the meat from the microscopic thugs that want it to spoil.  Salt curing and then cooking in fat?  HOW CAN THIS BE BAD?  It can’t.  Duck fat is one of the most delicious of fats in the cooking world, falling only slightly below the level of deliciousness found in bacon fat.  In fact, duck fat has really taken off in the fine dining world.  One of the new “it” dishes of the past year was French fries that have been fried in duck fat.  Potatoes and duck fat really do form a rather perfect partnership.  I would have to say that this combo is up there with clams and Spanish ham…pure ambrosia.

 

INGREDIENTS -

2 whole duck legs, skin and fat intact

All fat from rest of duck carcass

2 Tbsp. salt

5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped off the stems

4 garlic cloves, very finely diced

Mix together the salt, thyme, and garlic until the mixture resembles wet sand.  Rub the salt cure all over the duck legs, being sure to get salt into every crevice.  Refrigerate the legs for three days, turning them once daily.

After the three days have passed, remove as much of the salt cure from the duck legs as you can…BUT DO NOT RINSE.  Place the reserved duck fat in a small saucepan and put over low heat.  Cook until all fat has been completely rendered.  Sear the duck legs in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat, being sure to brown the legs all over. 

 

Place the browned legs in a small oven-proof vessel.  The vessel needs to be small because the legs need to be submerged in the rendered fat while cooking.  I used a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan, which was absolutely perfect.  Pour enough rendered duck fat over the legs to completely submerge them.  Place the legs into a 300 degree oven and cook for 2 hours.  If you were unable to completely submerge the legs in fat, then just turn them after the first hour of cooking.  You won’t believe how amazing the confit smells as it is cooking.  It smells slightly like pate, but mostly like glory.

When the two hours of cooking is up, remove the legs from the oven and place them in a container with an airtight seal.  Cover them with the hot fat that they had cooked in, seal them up, and refrigerate.  If the legs are completely covered in fat, they will keep for months in the fridge.  When you want to eat them, just remove them from the fat and place them in a 425 degree oven for 7 minutes on each side.  This will crisp up the skin nicely and heat the legs all the way through. 

 

The meat is very tender, slightly salty, mellowly flavored with the thyme and garlic, and mind-blowingly luxurious.  You have to try this out.  Duck confit is typically used as an ingredient in one pot type dishes like cassoulet.  I imagine that it would be the ultimate addition to some over the top macaroni and cheese.  Maybe mac and cheese with duck confit, caramelized leeks, asiago and fontina…oh yeah! 

 

So, as delicious as cooking something in its own juices is, you have to try cooking some duck in duck fat.  The rewards are too tremendous to not give it a try.

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