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tarynstable-blog · 5 years

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The Quest for Duck Confit

I love all things duck. It has been my dream for many years to learn the age-old authentic preparation of ‘duck confit.’ There is only one place to go to realize that dream--I had to go to Southwest France. Gascony, the heartland of duck confit and all things duck. There are many cooking classes to be explored, but my quest was to find a course that specialized in and featured the making of Duck Confit. I found exactly that and a then some at the Gargantua in Anzex, France, where I enrolled my companion and myself in the intensive, three day 'Fat Duck Course.’ I discovered the course would include in addition to the Duck Confit, a fabulous bonus. I would also learn the preparation of Torchon au Foie Gras, Rillets, Cou Farci, and Gratton. My ideal duck fantasy! About a three-hour drive north of Carcassonne, we arrived late in the afternoon at the farmhouse of Marlene, Thomas, and their two daughters. Originally from Calais, Marlene had learned the traditional methods of cooking from her grandmother. A ruin at the time, her dream was realized when she bought and restored this farmhouse, with the intention to provide cooking courses with accommodations, meals included. Thomas, who is a very talented self-taught cook as well, is very much part of the team. Marlene does the teaching and most of the interaction, Thomas prepares the meals and behind the scenes operations. That first night at Gargantua, my companion and I were treated to the best duck confit of my life in France or the US. It was golden brown, nesting on a bed of fresh broad beans and bright green peas with fresh basil & parsley. The crispiness was perfection as my fork broke through the skin with a crunch and pierced the falling-off-the-bone tender meat. The depth of flavors exploding in my mouth, my full of desire to savor every bite. I couldn’t imagine intentionally cleansing my palate, only how to maintain it. Euphoric, knowing when I completed this course, I too would be able to prepare Duck Confit to the highest standard. The carafe of wine on the table flowed, and the glasses were kept full. The following act was a salad of baby arugula with goat cheese on toasted baguette drizzled with a hint of honey and finished with a balsamic glaze. All farm fresh, a beautiful presentation and delicious.

To finish, we were presented with an apple tart, served with freshly whipped cream. Heady with our welcome, we retired to a deep sound sleep.

Day 2

The morning light filtering into the dining area lit up the quintessential French breakfast table. A feast for the eyes, it was completely laid out with croissants, pain au chocolat, baguettes, cereal, and fresh fruit, along with choices of juices and coffee. This morning, a visit to the duck farm, La Ferme de Ramon, was our adventure. It was a beautiful farm with pastoral countryside views, flowering fragrant trees, shrubbery, and flowers. Butterflies & bees busy pollinating. The fig tree bursting with ripe fruit. The owner invited me to help myself. I plucked a fragrant purple fig from the tree and enjoyed each bite of the warm juicy fruit. The ducks live a relaxed, comfortable lifestyle as they sit resting on the green grass in the outside air under dappled sunlight of the shade trees. They arrive when they are a week old. They are moved to different areas on the 30 hectares of the farm as their age dictates and live in tents together so that they are able to huddle to keep warm. They graze on the grass and are fed the maize from the fields. At 3 months, they are moved to a cage to build fat just prior to slaughter. They are fed gavage twice a day, a porridge of maize and wheat flour. We toured the pristine facility where the final stages take place as well as the Preparation of all parts of the duck. There, on-site they produce a vast number of products from preserved foie gras, smoked margret, rendered fat, and much more. We purchased our duck and foie gras, packaged that morning. Now that is fresh! We returned to a lovely luncheon set out for us on the outdoor wooden table under the tree in the garden. A delicious feast of tomato soup, pate encroute, a green salad, a selection of cheeses and homemade confiture with fresh baguette. Of course, no meal is complete if not accompanied by a very nice red table wine.

Confront the foie gras head on! The deveining process may at first seem intimidating. However, we were encouraged to go boldly forward to seek out and remove the large veins, assured that the foie will be molded back into shape.

Once the deveining mission was accomplished, we prepared the foie gras for the torchon. In this case, instead of a tea towel or cheesecloth, we laid the foie out on a sheet of plastic wrap. We proceeded to season both sides with salt & pepper. Then as if a jigsaw puzzle, arranged and layered the pieces into a 5" inch long, 3 ¼ inch diameter roll, compacting and working the air out before knotting each end. We repeated the wrapping 3 times. The Ballantine were placed into 195F water with the heat turned off for 22 minutes, then immediately removed and set in an ice water bath to cool before refrigerating. Wait at least a day or so before eating.

Second Butchery

Our next task was the secondary butchery the duck. I have never seen a duck this big, like a goose! Slightly intimidated, Marlene reassured us 'the knife knows the way.’ We proceeded to cut piece by piece, first the neck with the head, then the legs, followed by the breast and wings. The fat, the carcass, and the neck had to be removed from its skin. This would be the casing for the coufarci, a lot of work! The fat and the skin went into a large pot on the stovetop. The temperature was set on low to render the fat. Meanwhile…the legs will be used for the confit and are placed in a large dish of salt, then covered with more salt and set in the refrigerator for 12 hours. The breast, necks and all the rest, went into a bowl to be refrigerated until the next day. These will be our ingredients for the Rillettes, Cou Farci, and Grattons. It had been a long but wonderful day. Our dinner was a Navarin, a very delicious lamb stew with root vegetables. The local red table wine made a perfect pairing. For dessert, petite profiteroles with ice cream filling and bathed in a creamy dark chocolate sauce.

Day 3

The morning light danced across the breakfast table, the rooster crowed in the distance, and the aroma of fresh croissants and coffee filled the air.

Our biggest day of cooking so far about to commence, with many elements going simultaneously.

The Confit

The large pot of rendered fat had been skimmed through a sieve and brought to simmer at 200 degrees awaiting the duck legs. We rinsed the salt from the duck legs, patted dry and placed them into the fat, maintaining 200 degrees Fahrenheit to simmer for about 3 hours. Marlene says 'the fat sings a serenade to you.’ She says that depending on how long you intend to store the confit determines how long they would cure in the salt. Because we intend to eat ours soon, 12 hours will be enough. Even though we will cook the duck legs in the fat, they will probably still be salty because we will be eating them soon, within weeks. Evidently, the longer they age, the saltiness lessens. I asked about a tough confit that was not falling off the bone. She reasoned that most likely, it had been cooked too fast and at too high a temperature. After about 3 hours, the skin should pull away from the bone of the drum stick, indicating that it is ready. Marlene gave me verbal instruction on 'how to’ complete the preparation of the confit as follows:

To serve, bring to room temperature. Place the duck legs in a room-temperature pan, then slowly bring up the heat, rendering the fat and ladling that fat onto the meat until the skin is crispy. I consider the crispiness of the skin to be critical to the perfect duck confit. I was definitely unsure of myself successfully accomplishing this task without some hand-holding.

Cou Farci -

Once the duck legs were simmering in the pot, we commenced preparing the Cou Farci (stuffed duck neck).

We put the tenderloins through a meat grinder and added some ground pork, ½ a minced shallot, 1 minced clove garlic,1 tsp salt, a pinch of pepper, a few drops of Armagnac and a portion of beaten egg, just to bind it together. Tie a knot at the small end of the duck neck skin, stuff the mixture tightly into the casing and tie a knot at the open end. We added the Cou Farci to the confit pot to simmer with the duck legs for 1 hour 20 min. Pierced with a toothpick, and the juice runs clear. Then wrapped in plastic, and refrigerated. We will slice it and serve or pan sear when we are ready for a taste.

While in preparation of the duck legs and the Cou Farci we are also preparing a large stock pot for the Rillets. We add a half of a large white onion cut in half with a clove in each, 5 cloves of slightly crushed garlic, half a shallot minced, one carrot, one celery, A small bunch of thyme and one bay leaf, add one cup of dry white wine. Add the carcass of 2 ducks, the wings and necks and all that we had placed in the bowl yesterday. Add one tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon pepper. Cover with water and bring to a simmer for a few several hours until the meat is cooked and tender. We break for lunch under the shade on the old wood table. A mouthwatering spread of vine ripe red & green tomatoes, garden zucchini quiche with the most astonishing light flaky crust! Accompanied by shredded carrot and lentil salads and of course red table wine to complete the meal.

Back in the kitchen, we removed the meat from the stock pot. Removing any meat from the neck and bones shredding as you go. Ladling in some of the stock to keep it moist, salt & pepper to taste. We pat down rillettes mixture into a terrine, ladle about ½ inch of duck fat over the top to completely cover. Refrigerate until ready to taste. Preferably in a few days. Three hours had passed, and it was now time to remove the duck legs from the hot fat. The skin had indeed pulled away from the drumstick bone, indicating that it was ready. I tried a nibble of the meat on one quickly, it did not taste too salty to me. But then, I do love my salt. We placed the cooked duck leg pieces in containers and covered them with the hot fat to then store in the refrigerator.

And now for the Grattons! We slice the bits that had been separated out from the rendered fat and refrigerated and cut into thin strips. Then Arranged them onto a tray and placed into a hot oven. We allowed them to crisp up, about 20 minutes. Removed from the pan onto paper towels to drain the fat, salt to taste. OMG yum! These crispy delicious morsels will be heaven on a green salad. Baggie them, they freeze beautifully.

4 Magret Breasts we had cut awaited.

One breast is adequate per two people. I had thought that Marlene would guide me through the Preparation of the Magret breasts, not the case. I would go it alone, fingers crossed! The verbal instruction 'how to.’ As follows. Score the fat side about ½ inches apart and season. Place them skin side down in an unheated pan on low heat As the fat renders keep pouring it off. Render as much fat so that the skin can be crispy, about 10 minutes. Do not let it get too brown. Turn it over to meat side down for 4 Minutes. Place in a 350-degree oven for10 minutes. Grateful for a respite, to sit and enjoy our last meal a Gargantua.

A beet and goat cheese salad was followed by roasted chicken, juicy and tender cooked to perfection served with sauteed zucchini fresh from the garden. All of the Red table wine required goes without saying! A luscious chocolate mousse completed the meal. I was curious about why we had not tasted any of the items that we had made. I had assumed it was because each recipe was intended to be preserved for days, weeks, or months before eating. I accepted without question that this must have been the intention. I was quite surprised when the morning of our departure, Marlene asked me for my cooler. Cooler?! I am truly confused. I have traveled to Gascony France from Florida and did not plan on toting a cooler. As luck would have it, serendipity was in our favor. It just so happened that our next stop was Roussillon in the Luberon.

We were joining friends who had rented a house, and it had a kitchen! 6 hours later, we arrive at the door bags in hand, loaded down with all things Duck to share with the group. It was the last night in Roussillon when I prepared the duck fete for the 6 of us. The greatest challenge now was to figure out how to operate the European oven & stove top. Secondly and to my mind; most critical, to a perfect the crispy skin of the duck confit. Daunting for an uncertain chef in a foreign kitchen. Now an opportunity to taste our dishes, we begin with the Sliced torchon au Foie Gras and fig confiture on a fresh baguette. The torchon was a success with a sprinkle of finishing salt. The Rillettes was good, but I was underwhelmed with the recipe. I decided that I would try this again with my own tweaks on the recipe once back in my own home kitchen. The Cou Farci too was not an exciting dish after all of the labor involved. Not certain of the best way to serve it, I sliced it into medallions seared in a skillet. I decided to use them as a side to the salad. Simple butter lettuce tossed in olive oil flavored with garlic and basil topped with the crispy Grattons which were a delicious enhancement of texture, salty crunch and flavor. This was good.

The Magret duck breast really did come out as close to perfect as I could have hoped for given the circumstances of the stove top and oven temperature setting issues. I rubbed them with salt and some herb d Provence then scored them about ¼" apart. At room temperature, I placed them in the pan, skin side down at medium heat on the stove top. Allowing the fat to render and continue to pour it off until almost completely melted and the skins were a caramelized brown and crispy. I turned them over to the meat side down to sear for about 5 minutes then put them into the 350-degree oven for 7 minutes. Rest & sliced, perfect. Now for the star of the show, the reason behind this adventure, the Duck Confit.

I removed them from their duck fat filled containers and set aside the fat. Following Marlene’s verbal instruction, I placed them again in a room temperature pan, skin side down at low to medium heat. This took a long time because my intention was to get the completely crispy skin like I had that first night at Gargantua. I was presenting this dinner party to my host and friends. Labor intensive as it was, I was not prepared for experimentation with the crisping of the skin technique. The end result was tasty, not too salty, the skin was a complete disappointment the result did not meet my expectation by any stretch on the imagination. I was utterly deflated, I had traveled all this way to learn the authentic technique and had failed in execution. Not only because of the kitchen factors, but I really wasn’t confident about the “how to.” Marlene had not shown me how to 'finish’ Which is a critical aspect to the perfection of the confit.

Problem-solving my way through I quickly determine that frying the skin side down in the fat would render a crispy skin and may be the solution. I determine that I will figure it out in my own home kitchen not when I’m not trying to prepare a Duck Fete for 6 on location! I used some the remaining duck fat to toss into potatoes to roast in the oven with a couple of sprigs of rosemary from the garden to a crispy brown. It was quite an impressive dinner party with so much Duck that it could have served 12. We were all leaving the next morning and had to leave the left over Foie Gras, Rillettes, Magret and all of the precious 'Gold’ Duck Fat behind.

Once back in my own home kitchen, the final leg of the journey began. I studied a vast selection of a dozen or more cookery books and articles ranging from Paula Wolfert’ Cooking of Southwest France’ to Alan Ducasse’ Flavors of France’ comparing recipes and finishing techniques. I surfed the YouTube researching every resource and demonstration I could find to exhaustion. I would venture to say approximately 20 stations all in all. Rating each one as I went along. My quest has been a journey of love of Duck Confit, respect for authentic cuisine of Southwest France, and determination for perfection. I am proud to say that as of today, within two years of my journey to the Gargantua Fat Duck Course, I have now served over one hundred and twenty-five Duck Confit dinners at my table. As Thomas Keller would advise 'practice, practice, practice.’ Yes, Practice does make perfect. My harshest critic being myself, I do believe that I have perfected Duck Confit to my highest of standards that could be had outside of France. I have discovered the best resources for ingredients available and developed my own recipe for Duck Confit, including recommended timing to successfully execute a Duck Dinner Fete for 12.

Living in the United States, there are only two resources for Duck, in my opinion. They are D'Artagnan and Hudson Valley. Overnight delivery is available. Bon Appetite!

Duck Confit Recipe

Resource D’Artagnan online

Serves 12

In Three Steps

Step 1.

12 Duck Legs, rinse & pat dry

Brine Dry-combine

1 ¼ cup Kosher salt

½ Cup granulated sugar

1 TBL. Crushed juniper berry

1 TBL. Quatre Espice

2 tsp. white crushed pepper

Coat each leg in the brine mixture.

Then add the garlic & Thyme between each two

Legs and stack them into a large freezer baggie.

2 large baggies for 6 legs overnight.

24 Thyme Sprig leaves

1 head of garlic, minced

Step 2.

Preheat oven to 300

7.5 – 8 LBS Duck Fat

Rinse the brine from the Duck Legs

Warm duck fat until melted.

Place 6 duck legs in each roasting pan. Pour the warm duck fat over

The duck legs to completely submerge the legs in fat.

Place roasting pan in the hot oven and lower the heat to 250.

Roast for approximately 3 hours. Until the skin pulls away from the

Bone on the end of the leg and the meat is very tender.

Remove the roasting pans from the oven.

Allow to rest for one hour. At this time you may place the duck legs into storage containers. Strain the fat through a

fine sieve to remove bits and completely cover the legs with the fat. Refrigerate

until ready to use. Minimum of two weeks recommended.

Note- I use oven ready storage containers.

Step 3.

Preheat oven to 250

Place the oven ready storage container in the hot oven to gradually melt the fat

and slowly warm the duck legs. When the fat is melted and the duck legs have

warmed through, approximately 30 minutes.

Now at the most critical stage in the perfection of the Duck Confit, Crisp the skin!

In a deep casserole on the stove top, Ladle duck fat so that the fat is about two

inches of deep. Bring the temperature of the fat to 375.

Working one at a time with a sturdy pair of tongs and a slotted spatula, place

each duck leg skin side down into the hot fat while slightly rolling the skin in the

fat so that all of the skin becomes an even golden brown. When all of the skin is

completely crispy and golden brown (about 2 minutes) Remove from the fat and

rest on a cooling rack.

The duck will stay warm for at least 20 minutes if you plan to serve immediately.

Alternatively, If I am hosting a dinner for 12 and attempting to ‘time’ my service.

I have found that the duck will hold well on the racks in a warming oven. However,

the skin will have to be re-crisped.

Preheat the broiler oven and set the oven rack on the second rung.

The duck legs are moved from the warming oven into the broiler.They will begin

to re-crisp under the broiler within about 5 minutes. Perfect!

#duckconfit duckfat cookinginfrance foiegras magret gratton coufarci

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