Duck Legs ‘Confit’ (Faux Confit de Canard)

Here’s a stunningly simple way to make something that looks and tastes remarkably like confit de canard (duck leg preserved in duck fat). It takes only a couple of hours, rather than a couple of days, and involves only about 5 minutes of attention. Unlike traditional confit, it does not require any added duck fat; in fact, it only has two ingredients: duck legs and salt. Not only is it delicious, but it also pays a fabulous dividend: duck fat that gets rendered in the process and can be used later.

Our recipe is based on a method described in a recipe by Hank Shaw more than a decade ago on Simply Recipes. We don’t know whether Shaw developed it himself, or learned it from someone else. We contacted him to find out, he referred us to Simply Recipes, and they never answered our email, so its origin remains a mystery.

We built on Shaw’s basic method, zeroing in on optimum timing and temperature, and how much salt to use — and we’ve now made it many times with fabulous success.

Once roasted, the legs can be eaten immediately — one per person is a customary serving in France, where they’re traditionally served with a potato dish, pommes sarladaise. But don’t be surprised if someone would like seconds. Confit duck legs are also used as an ingredient in dishes like cassoulet or garbure — both of which involve beans. Tarbais beans (same as those in cassoulet) make a wonderful accompaniment, if you can find them. (You can! Rancho Gordo sells them.) But you can also keep things super easy, heat up a can of cannelinis and doctor it with a little grassy olive oil, chopped parsley or other herbs.

Starting them in a cold oven is key to having them cook slowly and having their fat render properly. And all that duck fat you’ll capture? It’s a key ingredient in the potato dish. Yep, go that traditional route and it’s a delicious, vicious duck-fat cycle.

Makes 4 duck legs.

Ingredients

4 duck legs

2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions

1. Pat the duck legs dry, and prick their skin all over with a needle (15-20 pricks on each side). Sprinkle each leg evenly with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and let them sit for about 20 minutes.

2. Place the legs, thickest skin-side up, in a baking dish just large enough to hold them. Ideally, they should fit a bit snugly. Put them in a cold oven, and turn the temperature to 285 degrees F / 141 C. Let them slowly roast for 90 minutes.

3. After 90 minutes, raise the oven temperature to 325 degrees F / 165 C, and roast 30 more minutes. At this point the duck legs are fully cooked. If you’d like to serve them right away, place the duck legs under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, so the skin is fully crisp. If you’d like to serve them later, keep them, covered, in the refrigerator, and either use their meat in a recipe, or warm them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, and then crisp the skin under the broiler as above. Or heat a little of the duck fat in a skillet till hot, add the duck legs and sear them a few minutes on each side till the skin is deeply golden and crisp.