Duck confit is rich a luxurious recipe of French origin, originally used to preserve meat. The initial salt cure followed by the slow and low cook submerged in fat results in a meal that can last a few weeks and up to a month in the fridge but I doubt these will last that long. I also enjoy shredding the meat off the bone before crisping it up in the broiler to make duck carnitas tacos! Our Marrakesh Sitar blend is a perfect match for duck containing warm spices and orange zest. The quick and easy salad I made for this recipe contains a splash of the cooking fat with freshly squeezed lemon juice to brighten it all up. This salad is so simple that it is crucial to follow your own palate if it needs more salt, acid or fat. Hope you enjoy this meal on your next special occasion.
Prep time: 20 minutes active
Cook time: 4 hours plus overnight marinade
Serves: 4-6
Equipment:
Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 6 duck legs
- 23.2g salt
- 2 Tbsp Marrakesh Sitar
- 1 bunch of fresh thyme
- 1 Tbsp Late Harvest Black Peppercorns
- 1/2 Tbsp Pimenton De La Vera
- 1 T Coriander seeds
- 55g fresh ginger in large chunks
- 2 heads of garlic, cut in half
- 2 oranges, slices
- 3-4 cups of lard or ghee
- Beans and Salad:
- Braised beans cooked simply in water with onions and garlic until tender
- 1 bunch of kale, sliced thin without stem
- 2 spring onions, sliced thin
- Marcona almonds
- 1 lemon
Steps
- Season the duck legs the day before you plan to cook with salt and Marrakesh Sitar
- Day of cook, preheat oven to 225F.
- Add the duck legs to your Dutch oven or roasting pot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients up until lard to the pot with the duck legs.
- Roast for 3-4 hours or until tender. Check after 3 hours as you don’t want the meat to fall off the bone but easily pulled off.
- Let cool and prepare your sides.
- Mix spring onions and kale with a tsp of the duck fat and juice from 1 lemon and season to taste.
- Remove duck legs from the fat.
- Turn oven on broil or heat a sauté pan with some of the fat and sear or broil skin side for about 5-7 minutes or until crispy
- Serve crispy duck leg over beans and salad and sprinkle with crush marcona almonds.
Things to remember
- If I am only eating one of the duck legs I will just crisp it up in a pan but if I am crisping all of them up at the same time for guests than I will use the oven method.
- Make sure to save the cooking fat as this is liquid gold and can be used in many dishes. (Great with my smashed potato recipe)