Duck Confit Part III: Easy & FailProof Confit

After the previous long posts of some background on Confit. I will try to keep this short & sweet

by giving you an easy recipe on making your own at home. It's so simple you will wonder why have it any other way.

 

Confit is best accompanied with something hearty such as brown rice, couscous or potatoes.

Things You Will Need:

-about 1.25 L or 5 cups of duck fat

-Cast Iron or Ceramic pot (if not, any Oven-Proof Casserole)

-Bread Pan (Preferably Glass)

-resealable glass container (Preferably square or rectangular as long as it is flat so marinade can circulate)

-Glass Jars (to preserve duck fat)

-a pair of chopsticks or skewers (when without, replace with fork)

Ingredients:

-5 cups of duck fat (you can render your own by saving scrapings or buy it from supermarket for the 1st time)

-a whole head of garlic and 4 additional cloves

-4-6 duck legs

-Handfuls of Coarse Salt & Pepper

-4 sticks of Thyme or any herbs you like

-2-3 Bay leaves

Tip: Do not throw out the fat after cooking!!! It can be reused.

You can save the fat after each time you make confit and increasingly after each consecutive time you will have more and more fat leftover.

Duck Confit Part II: Gascon Culinary Tradition (Recipe)

   The following recipe comes from a 19th century manuscript based on the Gascon culinary tradition of preparing confit. And the manuscript itself is based on a 18th century original that provides us with a glimpse of how the tradition of making confit was practiced in South-western France.

It should be noted that the process of making confit have remained essentially the same for at least the past 200 years, especially to those that are familiar with contemporary methods of preparing confit. So by the following the instructions below, you will wind up with pretty much the same confit that is served in Gascony today as it was found 200  years ago.

*(Except it might be a little saltier and lack of the convenience of modern amenities like gas/electric stoves & a fridge)

Method:

1. Preparation begins by bleeding the geese at the neck and scald them in hot in order to remove their feathers.
2. After plucking their feathers, hang the individual geese on  hooks to air dry them for 48 or 60hrs in an airy & cool place depending on temperature.
3. Following the drying process, cut the necks off and divide the geese into 4 quarters plus the rumps.
4. Take 4 big handfuls of crushed salt for each goose and 3 or fewer for each duck. So use more or less depending on size. Rub each quarter, neck and rump hard & long in order to absorb the salt.
5. Place the salted quarters in an earthenware crock or large pot and cure the flesh for 48hrs.
6. During the curing process, put the fat and fatty scraps all cut in to even sized pieces into a kettle and melt the fat on an extremely low fire, without boiling  or even simmering.
7. Strain the melted fat into a clean crock and save the fat.
8. Remove the quarters from the crock and clean off all the salt then wipe and dry the quarters on all sides by patting them with a clean cloth and when cleaned, place them in a very clean crock.
9. Take the rendered fat the day before and pour it into the bottom of a kettle, then add the breasts & legs besides each other and in layers. Then add the rumps, gizzards and necks into the kettle.
10. Place the kettle over a small & very gentle fire for 1 1/2 hrs counting from when the fat begins to melt. Make sure the fat does not boil.
11. After the 1 1/2hrs, raise the fire slightly and cook for another half an hour, then followed by using a bright hot fire to bring to a slow boil while keeping control for another 1/2hr.
12. Once the quarters are cooked, remove quarters, rumps and necks then leave the fat to rest and the quarters to be drained and cool to handle. Then place all the quarters in an earthenware crock and the rest of the flesh in a separate crock to be stored.
13. The last step that remains is simply to pour the cooked fat into the crocks and store them in a dry place while ensuring they are air tight by sticking strips of paper around the seams of the covering, 

The finished product are meant to be kept for three years, where people in Gascony almost never eat the stocks in the 1st year and wait until at least the 2nd year. As a result, it gives off a signature rancid flavour in which they believe has more taste.


References:
Schneider, Edward. “Of Goose in Gascony: The Making of Confit in Centuries Past.”
   Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer 2002): 49–58.


Others in the Series:
Duck Confit (Confit de Canard) Part I: Historical Perspective 
Duck Confit Part III: Easy & FailProof Confit