Notes: My mouth waters at the very thought of duck confit. I remember jars of it from France, as a kid, and always being a little wary of it. My love of it really started when I began eating it in the restaurant around the corner from my London flat; I must have gone there once a week for duck confit and lentils. Now 20 odd years on, I think I have probably eaten a good few hundred duck legs, and enjoyed most of them as much as the first few.
Confit is a term used for the process of salting meat, then cooking and storing it in its own fat. You can confit any meat or fish and preserve it for another day; it’s a process people relied on before refrigeration was available. If you put a little time and effort once a year into making this, you can have a great and simple supply of delicious meat for winter— to eat on its own, add to white bean soup, break up over salad, and more. (It really should be looked at as a pantry staple.)
Next to duck, the meat that I confit most is pork shoulder. What makes it fun is that you can change out any of the spices for whatever you love: star anise, fennel, coriander … the list is endless. Duck fat (used here to store the confit) is also good for sautéing fish or vegetables; and potatoes roasted in duck fat are great.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup salt
1/2 tablespoon peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon juniper berries
2 bay leaves
6 duck legs
Duck fat or oil, to cover
Instructions:
1. Place salt, peppercorns, juniper berries, and bay leaves in a pestle and mortar and grind together (or use whatever machinery you have on hand—even the bottom of a saucepan or your counter will do). Rub mixture all over the duck legs. Place in a nonmetallic container and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 300˚. Rinse duck legs well under cold water and pat dry with a cloth. Place in an ovenproof dish and cover with duck fat or oil. Cover and cook for 4 hours. To test for doneness, pull one leg out, place skin-side down, and push on the meat; it should just start to give way. If it’s not done, give it another 30 minutes in the oven and check again. When ready, remove from oven and leave to cool a little. (I have not tried to store this for a longer period of time in oil but cannot see why it shouldn’t work.)
3. Remove legs from fat and set aside. Pour all liquid into a clear container. The fat will separate from the stock; remove stock and reserve for another use. (The stock might be a little salty but it can be a great base to a soup; just don’t add extra salt to whatever you’re cooking until the end.)
4. Place duck legs in a storage jar and cover with duck fat or oil. Cover jar and refrigerate up to three months.
5. To serve the confit, preheat oven to about 450˚. Remove a leg from the jar and wipe off excess fat. Place in an ovenproof dish, skin-side up, and cook until skin is golden and crispy, 10-15 minutes.
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