What is Duck Confit?
Gently cured duck legs bathed in their own fat and slowly cooked to falling-off-the-bone perfection. Then the skin is crisped in a pan or oven, giving you the sinful combination of silky meat and crackling skin. It’ll roll your eyes back it’s so good. Real confit takes more than a day to make. But I have a work-around that takes just a little more than two hours and is nearly as good. And it’s easy – I mean super easy. Get yourself duck legs. Goose legs work fine, but they are hard to find not already attached to a goose; you can buy duck legs separate from the duck. You will want at least one per person, but two per person is better. You may have to have your butcher order them. Specialty grocers may have them fresh or frozen.
What Does Confit Mean?
Confit comes from the French verb “confire,” which means to preserve. The term is frequently associated with preserving meats, such as duck, in its own fat, but fruit and other sugary foods cooked down slowly with added sugar to preserve them also qualify as confit. You can also confit vegetables by cooking them slowly covered by oil.
How to Serve Duck Confit
Duck confit makes a savory and satisfying main course, but you can use it as an ingredient in other dishes such as pasta with slow roasted duck confit. As a main dish, it works great with sides roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, or even a simple green salad.
What to Do With Duck Fat
You’ll have duck fat left over when you’re done making duck confit, and that duck fat is liquid gold. Try it in these dishes, replacing part or all of the oil with duck fat.
Sweet and Sour Onions French Fries Home Fries Popcorn Mayonnaise Sautéd vegetables Pie crusts for savory dishes (like chicken pot pie)
More Classic French Recipes to Try!
French Onion Soup Coq au Vin Bouillabaisse Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce Slow-Cooker Beef Bourguignon
You are doing this to give the fat that lies under the skin a place to seep out. If you don’t do this, it will be far more difficult to get crispy skin. Walk away and watch football, go shopping, read a book or something. How long? Every duck has a different level of fat, so I can’t tell you exactly. But it will be at least 90 minutes, and 2 hours is better. After 90 minutes, check the duck: It should be partly submerged in melted fat and the skin should be getting crispy. What to do with your lovely duck legs? Why eat them. You can just gnaw on the legs and let the luscious fat dribble down your chin, or pick off the skin and eat it—it is hard to re-crisp it later—and then strip the meat from the bones and use it in a salad, with beans or rice, or in with pasta. Did you love this recipe? Give us some stars below!
