Recipe: Duck confit - sous-vide and traditional

Ducks are maybe my favorite bird.  I love to watch them come in for a landing on a glassy lake, I like to eat them.  A perfectly cooked duck breast is a thing of beauty, but you really can't do much with it other than let it bask in its own beauty.  Duck legs however, open doors everywhere.  You can roast them of course, but I prefer to gently confit them.  Once done, you can serve them whole, roasting the outside to crisp up the skin, or you can pull the meat apart and use it as a filling for won-tons, spring rolls and tacos.  You can move up a level and make a beautiful terrine or delicious rillette.  Always save the skin for something devious - it's too good to waste.

Some chefs like to confit in olive oil - it's just fine, but if you have the duck fat, I'd recommend it.  If you store it well in the freezer, it actually gets better with each successive batch of confit as it absorbs more flavour.  You'll have to get a bit creative after the cooking, as you will accumulate a wonderful layer of duck jelly below the fat.  I usually remove the legs and aromatics and chill the fat right down in the fridge, then it's easy to dig through the fat to the jelly and gently remove it.

You will need:

4              duck legs
1              small onion
1              large shallot
4              cloves garlic
4              cloves
12            whole black peppercorns

1              cinnamon stick
1              star anise
1              orange zest (use a vegetable peeler, not a microplane)
1 sprig     rosemary
4 sprigs    thyme
to cover   duck fat (or enough to coat if sous-vide)

Method:

 - slice the onion, shallot and garlic and mix all the aromatics together
 - make a bed of most of the aromatic mixture in a container, lay the legs flesh side down, and cover the skin with the rest
 - marinate one day

Note:  If cooking sous-vide, set the water bath for 85C / 185F.  Lightly season the legs and place in the bag, disperse the aromatics around and scoop in a spoon or two of cold duck fat (or oil if you choose).  Make sure the fat is relatively spread around, but it will spread as it warms up.  Seal the bag and cook the legs for 6 hours.  If you know you will pull the meat apart, you can cook it longer.  Once cooked, cool the legs down in an ice bath completely.  Pick up the rest of the procedure from the point where the traditional method has cooled down.

 - select a good heavy pot for the confit
 - set your oven to 200F / 93C
 - spoon a bit of duck fat in the bottom
 - lay the aromatics down on the bottom (this is insurance against excessive direct heat)
 - lightly season the legs and lay on top of the aromatics evenly
 - spoon the rest of the duck fat over to cover - top up with oil if you need
 - slowly bring the heat up to barely a simmer
 - cover and transfer to the oven
 - cook for 4 hours, then check the legs - if the meat is just starting to stretch away from the end of the bone, move the pot to a rack on the counter
 - remove the cover and let the legs cool in the fat
 - let the legs rest in the fat in the fridge overnight
 - gently remove the legs from the fat
 - if serving as legs, roast skin side up at 350F / 177C till crispy
 - if pulling the meat apart, start pulling
 - warm up the fat till liquid again
 - strain off the aromatics and cool down in a container (glass will let you see the jelly)
 - when the fat is somewhat solid again, you can dig out the fat and get at the jelly
 - use the jelly as a binder in your pulled meat, or add it to the sauce for the roasted legs
 - save the fat and store it in the freezer for next time