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
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.
Take handfuls of salt and pepper and thoroughly rub each leg to marinate.
Then smash 4 cloves of garlic and throw them in with 2 sticks of thyme. And let the legs sit overnight in the fridge.
After 24 hrs, thoroughly rinse the salt off the duck legs. Then transfer the duck legs to a casserole and smash about a head's worth of garlic into the casserole. And add in the 2-3 bay leaves followed by 2 sticks of thyme, as you can see I substitute with green onion because I was out of thyme.
Pour the prepared duck fat over the duck legs enough to cover, about 5 cups.
Then place your crock or casserole into the oven.
And as for the cooking time and temperature, I have experimented many times and found the following to be the best:
Cook for 4 hrs at 200°F/100°C
or
Cook for 8 hrs at 185°F/85°C
Remove the legs when cooking is finish and transfer them into a glass bread loaf pan, but before you put the legs in you must place a pair of chopsticks or skewers at the bottom of pan. *This will ensure the legs from stewing in its own juices creating a tight seal with the fat.
After you have lay the fat over the duck legs, keep it in the fridge for at least a week before consuming and good to eat up to 2 months.
*The use of a glass bread loaf pan is very important because it presses the legs together into the fat forming a tight seal. And the longer you let the legs preserve in its own fat the tastier it will be with a distinct flavour, given that confit means "to be sealed and stored".
It looks like this after a week.
When you are ready to eat, simply defrost the duck legs in the glass bread pan itself and either fry or place it in the oven to crisp up the skin.
To Defrost: Simply place the glass pan in a pot of simmering hot water and watch the fat melt. (About 20 minutes)
And to crisp up the skin to serve:
Fry-Place the legs on a hot pan (preferably cast-iron) and sear each side for about 5 minutes.
Bake-Preheat oven at 350°F/180°C and bake until hot with the legs skin side down about 15 minutes,
then turn the legs over and broil to crispen skin for about 3 minutes. *But Remember to keep watch so to avoid burning.
Others in the Series:
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