Duck confit: recipe, cooking secrets, photo

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

According to gourmets, French cuisine has long been considered a real classic in the art of cooking. If there is a desire to try the dishes of different countries, many believe that you should start with it. The best option would be duck confit. The dish is considered one of the simplest. If desired, even a beginner can handle it. About the secrets of cooking and serving methods - later in the article.

What is duck confit?

French cuisine has a huge number of traditional recipes, which subsequently spread and became quite popular in many countries of the world. They are distinguished by special sophistication and great taste, and most importantly, many of them do not require special skills, just follow the instructions exactly and improvise a little.

Dishes prepared using the confit method, that is, multi-stage, long-term languishing with your own fat over low heat, deserve special attention. This is how the duck confit recipe came about,which was noted by many housewives.

If we turn to history, then the use of the confit method for cooking various dishes began a very long time ago. Fat is an excellent preservative that allows you to keep food for a long time. This property was often used in those days when refrigerators did not yet exist. And since duck fat solidifies at room temperature, it has become the most popular method of preventing food spoilage.

Required Ingredients

We offer a duck confit recipe (photo later in the article) that you can easily cook at home and add it to your list of favorite dishes.

All the secrets will be listed step by step below, but first you need to prepare all the necessary ingredients. For duck confit, you will definitely need to purchase:

• half a kilo of duck fat;
• 4 fat duck legs;
• a couple of tablespoons of coarse sea s alt;
• 2 shallots;
• 3 garlic cloves;
• a small bunch of fresh thyme;
• bunch of rosemary;
• half a teaspoon of allspice;
• olive oil if needed.

Step by step cooking

To prepare duck confit according to the recipe at home, follow the following sequence of actions:

1. The first step is to prepare the fat. It can be purchased at the store, but if you can’t find it, you will have to melt it yourself. To do this, you need to take everythingthe fattest parts of the duck carcass and put them to simmer over low heat for several hours. As it cooks, the fat will gradually separate, so it must be periodically drained into a separate bowl.
2. When the right amount of fat is already there, special attention should be paid to the preparation of the legs. They need to be marinated. To do this, first wash them, dry them with a paper towel, rub with s alt, put them in a deep closed bowl and send them to the refrigerator for a couple of days so that the meat "picks up" enough s alt.
3. After marinating, excess s alt that has not been absorbed must be cleaned.
4. Now let's move on to the direct preparation of duck confit. To do this, take a pan with a thick bottom and walls and pour out all the fat. We add seasonings, coarsely chopped shallots and garlic cloves to it. The legs must be immersed in fat so that it completely covers them. We put on a slow fire and cook for 5 - 6 hours.

If desired, the duck can be cooked in the oven. At the same time, the temperature should not exceed 150 degrees, otherwise the meat will cook quickly and the confit will not turn out.

Serve with orange sauce, it goes well with duck. If you like this combination, you can try duck confit with oranges. There are many cooking methods. Consider one of them.

Duck with oranges

• 5 - 6 duck legs (you need to use the whole leg, with the thigh);
• orange peel (from 1 piece);
• ground black pepper - 1 tsp;
• s alt - 2 tsp(better to use sea);
• brandy (orange liqueur) - 50 ml;
• orange fresh - 150 ml;
• spice set (bay leaf - 2 pcs., thyme - 4 pcs., parsley, rosemary - 1 pc.);
• pink pepper - 0.5 tsp (optional);
• juniper berries - 5 pieces;
• bulb (choose larger).

Mix pepper with s alt and orange zest. Rub the duck legs with this mixture and place in a wide dish in one layer.

Pour brandy with orange juice. cover with cling film or a lid and send to the refrigerator to marinate for a day, maybe two. In order for the meat to marinate well, it must be turned over periodically.

Remove the duck legs from the refrigerator an hour before cooking, clean from excess spices and moisture with a paper towel.

Put in one layer with the outside down on a well-heated wide frying pan. Keep on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, melting fat. Do not cover with a lid.

Cut the onion into half rings, chop the juniper berries with a knife, mix with spices and add to the duck, turning it over. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for one and a half to two hours at 175 degrees.

Then remove the foil and leave for another 40 minutes in the oven.

Excess fat must be drained from the finished duck.

Serving to the table

Duck confit goes great with potatoes. You can make mashed potatoes or just bake in duck fat. Other seasonal vegetables, baked or cooked ongrill.

From drinks to a duck it is best to serve red wine, preferably dry, but semi-sweet is also possible. The drink will best reveal the taste and aroma of the dish.

Shelf life

As mentioned earlier, the confit cooking method has long been used to increase the shelf life of foods. If the dish was cooked according to the rules, languished for a long time on low heat, then the shelf life in the refrigerator is up to 3 months.

Meat can be rolled up in a jar of fat, which will further increase the shelf life, up to one year. But freezing the duck is not recommended. In this case, after defrosting, the meat will no longer be tender, many taste qualities will be lost.

Helpful tips

Here are some helpful tips on how to properly consume duck confit:

1. The dish can be eaten even cold, simply by spreading tender meat on bread like a pate. If you add a little greenery, it will only improve the taste. Well, if you don’t want to eat the duck cold, you can warm it up in a regular frying pan until it is slightly golden brown.
2. It is better not to pour out the fat remaining after cooking the duck. It is perfect for preparing other delicious dishes. It is often used in place of vegetable oil for frying. The food becomes more caloric, but the taste is simply amazing.
3. It is very important that the legs are completely covered with fat during cooking, as the recipe calls for them to languish. Then the meat acquires extraordinary tenderness, it melts in your mouth. If the right amountthere is no duck fat, the lack can be added with olive oil or pork fat.
4. Properly cooked duck confit (photo above) must be fried, with a delicious ruddy crust. If this is not the case, you need to remove the leg from the pan and bake in the oven at a temperature of 170 degrees for about fifteen minutes. Or just fry in a pan until you get the desired result.
5. If you want to experiment with flavors, then you can serve duck with a side dish of fruits or berries. It is best to choose sour varieties, as duck meat is slightly sweet. The dish will sparkle with new tastes. In addition, a fatty high-calorie product prepared in this way will become easier to digest. The best garnish option would be apples stewed in wine or lingonberries as a savory addition to a new dish on your menu.

Conclusion

As you can see, with the necessary ingredients, preparing duck confit is quite simple. Of course, you have to spend a lot of time, but the result is worth it. Amazing and refined taste will be appreciated by many gourmets. By the way, you can cook a lot of duck legs and consume them gradually, because this product can be stored for a long time. Confit duck is the perfect main dish for the holidays.