It does not get much more French than Confit Duck and with this weekend’s Bastille Festival celebrations, Chef Pieter and his team will be serving this delicious French classic – beautiful when combined with our Culinaria Grand Vin!

While participants in our Pleasures of Provence cooking class had the opportunity to learn the skill of confit first-hand, Chef Pieter also shares his recipe for those who are too far to share in the weekend’s French festivities.

Classic Confit Duck or Confit de Canard

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 Duck leg and thighs

60 g Coarse salt

1.5 kg Duck fat

1 tsp Pepper corns

2 Star anise

1 Cinnamon stick

8 Sprigs of thyme

3 Bay leaves

Sterilized Glass jar if preserving

Baking paper, cut in a round, to cover the surface of the pan (known as cartouche)

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 ⁰C.

Rub the duck with salt and place in a bowl, sprinkle the remainder of the salt over the duck and allow to cure overnight.

After 12 hours, briefly rinse the duck and pat dry. Heat a non-stick pan over a low heat and place the duck skin side down into the pan, allow the fat from the skin to render and brown gently for 15 minutes.

Place another pot on the stove and melt the duck fat over a low heat, add all the rest of ingredients as well as the rendered fat from the frying pan along with the four pieces of duck.

Once the duck fat is hot and just below simmering point, place the pot, covered with the cartouche/baking paper inside the oven and leave to “confit” for 2 ½ hours or until the duck is tender and almost falling off the bone.

Once cooked the duck can either be stored and preserved or eaten straight away.

Note: Remember to crisp-up the skin under the grill just before serving. Confit duck is best served with an orange sauce.

To store the duck, place the duck in a container, strain the fat through a fine sieve, discard the aromatics and cover the duck with the fat. Seal the jar with an airtight lid and it will keep in the fridge for months.

 

 

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