;

Confit duck
PREP: 15 MINS EASY SERVES 6
COOK: 2 HRS, 30 MINS
plus marinating

Nutrition:
kcal fat saturates carbs sugars fibre protein salt
- - - - - - - -

Ingredients Method

6 cumin seeds 1. The day before cooking, put the cumin and coriander
seeds in a dry pan and toast until they are slightly
12 coriander seeds
coloured and aromatic. Remove to a board and crush
3 juniper berries them with the blade of a knife. Crush the juniper berries
50g flaky sea salt
and mix with the spices and the salt. Rub the mixture over
the duck, scatter with thyme, rosemary and sliced garlic
6 duck leg and thigh joints and chill for 24 hrs, turning two or three times as they
1 small bunch thyme marinate.

1 rosemary branch
2. Next day, heat oven to 150C/130C fan/ gas 2. Wipe
1 unpeeled garlic clove, sliced, plus 1 whole garlic the duck with kitchen paper and pat dry, but don’t wash
bulb, halved off the marinade. (The salt extracts the water from the
meat cells, which will be reinflated with fat as the duck
about 500g goose or duck fat, or enough to totally
submerge the duck legs
cooks gently. If you wash it, you will simply reinflate the
cells with water.)
2 bay leaves

1 tsp black peppercorns 3. Put the duck in a cast-iron casserole and cover with
the goose fat or duck fat. Add the bay leaves and
peppercorns and cook for about 2½ hrs, or until the meat
is almost falling away from the bone. You can store the
duck very simply by placing it in a pudding bowl, covering
it with the fat and keeping it in the fridge: as long as it
stays covered with fat it will last for weeks.

4. To cook, remove the confit duck legs from their fat.

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Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2009

Alternative
Comments, questions and tips recipes

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duck
discussion.

(25 ratings)
Comments (23) Questions (0) Tips (0)

Annie B
1st Feb, 2019

Re the complaints of too salty, I used Maldon sea salt, (am sure any other flaky
or rock salt would work too) which worked very well, as you can just brush it off.
This recipe was followed faithfully and turned out to be utterly delicious and
IMHO absolutely perfectly seasoned. My children (well, hulking teenagers, really)
have declared it their new favourite dish, served with roasted winter veg and
sweet potato fries with truffle oil. Decadent, but yummy, and quite reasonably
priced for a pretty luxurious Sunday lunch. I have filtered the goose fat and it’s

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" exmothian
18th Sep, 2015

Raymond Blanc recommends rinsing the legs to get rid of excess salt so I think
I'll follow his example ... I suspect he knows what he's talking about!!

" exmothian
18th Sep, 2015

I've looked at other sets of instructions , and Raymond Blanc recommends

rinsing the marinade off and drying the legs off, so I'm going to try this too, I
don't want the outcome to be salty!

" helennaisbo
6th Sep, 2015

Far too salty!! What a shame. My partner made this for is at the weekend and
tho the flavour of the duck was nice it was almost inedible due to the over
powering saltiness. Off to find a better recipe.

gail-jones
7th Apr, 2015

Great recipe. I don't like recipes where there are comments about 'use a
wooden spoon' or a 'non-reactive bowl' or such without explanation. This recipe
tells you why you are not rinsing your bird and it all makes sense. Great results
and one can mix and match associated ingredients once one understands the
basics of the dish. Absolutely great!

" nmise
3rd Mar, 2014

I combined this recipe with 'Tender roast duck with citrus & carrots' by Jane
Hornby and it was a real treat. The star of a sunday lunch!

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" perryvale114
3rd Jul, 2012

This is such a disappointing photograph. Can he do it again without it looking

burnt.

" elemheim
14th Sep, 2011

Yes, look l know what you mean, it does sound fatty for those who have not
been there, but the end dish is one of the best tasting classic French dishes
ever, and if you did not know how it was cooked, you would never guess it was
cooked in fat-The finished dish is not oily at all, just crispy skin and super tasty.
Give it a go and then you will know. Venture out. Try it on a bed of warm spinach
green lentils done in veal stock, buttered sprouts haved young and sweet,
potatos chopped small and roasted in some garlic and duck fat, served in a
wide bowl to hold some reduced veal juces.

" cecmary27
13th Jun, 2011

I tried this recipe this weekend - very simple to do but the duck legs were far too
salty - what did I do wrong? Would love to try again!

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