French · Main
Duck Confit
The Périgord double act — duck legs cured and slow-poached in fat until spoon-tender, skin crisped to order over garlicky duck-fat potatoes
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 190 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- Duck legs — 4 (about 300 g each)
- Coarse sea salt — 18 g
- Garlic, crushed — 20 g (plus 10 g for potatoes)
- Thyme — 8 sprigs
- Bay leaves — 3
- Black peppercorns, crushed — 3 g
- Duck fat — 800 g
- Waxy potatoes — 800 g
- Flat-leaf parsley, chopped — 12 g
- Fine salt — 5 g
Method
- Rub legs with coarse salt, 20 g garlic, thyme, bay and peppercorns; cure 18–24 h, chilled.
- Rinse and dry thoroughly. Submerge in melted duck fat.
- Cook at 120 °C oven (fat ~90 °C) for 2.5–3 h until a skewer meets no resistance at the joint.
- Cool in the fat; store submerged (keeps 3 weeks) or proceed.
- Potatoes: peel, slice 4 mm, rinse, dry. Sauté in 60 g of the confit fat over medium heat 20–25 min, turning gently, until golden and tender; add 10 g garlic and parsley for the last 2 min; season.
- Crisp the legs skin-down in a dry ovenproof pan, then 12 min at 220 °C until the skin crackles; core 75 °C+.