http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_duck_confit/
Please welcome guest contributor Hank Shaw of Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook as he shares his method for making what he affectionately calls “ghetto duck confit”. So easy, and outrageously good. ~Elise
INGREDIENTS
Duck legs (at least one per person)
Salt
METHOD
Pat the duck legs dry with paper towels.
Find a needle or a very pointy knife and prick the skin of the duck all over. Focus on the skin that covers fat.Do your best to avoid piercing the meat itself by pricking the skin at an angle over the drumstick and the center of the thigh. 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.
Salt your duck legs well.
Let them rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.
Put the duck legs in a small casserole (just big enough to hold the legs), close together, but not overlapping, skin side up.
Put a 1/2 inch of oil or melted duck fat on the bottom of the casserole.
Put the casserole in the oven and turn it to 300 degrees; if you have a digital oven, you could even go down to 285 degrees. Do not preheat the oven. You want to cook the duck as gently as possible.
Cook for 1.5 - 2 hours. After 90 minutes, check the duck: It should be partly submerged in melted fat and the skin should be getting crispy.
When the skin is starting to look crispy, turn up the heat to 375 degrees.
Check after 15 minutes. You’re looking for a light golden brown. If you missed some spots with the needle and there are places where the skin won’t crisp that’s OK – better that than burnt skin elsewhere.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before eating.
Save the accumulated fat for cooking vegetables, other meats or for keeping your skin shiny. I strain the fat through cheesecloth, but you really only need to do this if you are saving the fat for several weeks or months; strained, it will keep for 6 months tightly covered in the fridge.
Well wrapped, the duck meat itself will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
This is not the confit they teach in cooking school, or the kind served at restaurants. It's the kind you can make any time -- all you need are a few good duck legs, a skillet and some very basic spices. And it's just as good.
Melissa Clark's method is very simple, and the best perk is you don't need to come up with a vat of duck fat before you get going -- you just render some out from the cured duck legs themselves.
Note: This recipe is easily halved. Adapted very slightly from In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite by Melissa Clark.
Serves 6-8
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 moulard duck legs (about 4 pounds total), rinsed and patted dry but not trimmed
Method:
In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf pieces. Sprinkle duck generously with mixture. Place duck legs in a pan in one layer. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. Note: Moulard duck legs can vary in size -- if yours are closer to 1 lb. each, instead of 1/2 lb., add an extra 6-12 hours to the curing time if possible, and increase the spice mix proportionally by weight.
The next day, heat oven to 325 degrees. Place duck legs, fat side down, in a large ovenproof skillet, with legs fitting snugly in a single layer (you may have to use two skillets or cook them in batches).
Heat duck legs over medium heat until fat starts to render. When there is about 1/4 inch of rendered fat in pan, about 20 minutes, flip duck legs, cover pan with foil, and place it in oven. If you have used two pans, transfer duck and fat to a roasting pan, cover with foil and place in oven.
Roast legs for 2 hours, then remove foil and continue roasting until duck is golden brown, about 1 hour more. Remove duck from fat; reserve fat for other uses.
Serve duck hot or warm, over roasted potatoes or noodles or bitter salad greens.