Duck confit is an old recipe, originally intended to preserve meat in fat for many months. This sounds downright wonderful to a lazy home cook — you simply cook up a big pot of duck legs and store them in fat. When you get hungry, you lift a leg from the fat, fry it in a pan, and it’s done! With very little effort, you magically get a gourmet dinner — sounds good, right?
My initial interest in making confit arose a few years ago, and then I tried all kinds of exciting versions — with various berries, herbs, and other fun additions. Despite all the amazing recipes, the best duck confit I ever had was, as expected, in France — in Saint-Émilion at a local fair — served on a paper plate, for almost nothing, and so good it brought tears to my eyes. After licking the bones clean, I walked over to the duck vendor and asked for the recipe. The man looked at me rather confused — what recipe? Complimenting his wonderful duck, I tried again: how did it become so flavorful, what spices and herbs did you use? The man shrugged — nothing, he said — salt, pepper, fat, and duck. And that’s exactly how simple it actually is.
Inspired by that, I came back to the starting point — making confit does not need to be nearly as complicated as many recipes make it seem. Because essentially, it’s simply duck slow-cooked in fat, and later the skin is fried crispy in a pan. Yes — if you have time, marinating the duck beforehand certainly doesn’t hurt, but if you’re short on time, don’t give up on making it. You can get perfectly good duck simply by throwing all the spices, the fat, and the duck into the pot together. That’s what I did for our Christmas menu and wrote down a somewhat simplified recipe for the December 2018 issue of Pere ja Kodu magazine. I must admit, I did still add a couple of things besides salt and pepper. I used lingonberries, but I would also recommend trying juniper berries. Juniper gives a nice flavor and also just looks good on the plate. But every cook decides for themselves — as the French do, duck is also delicious simply in its own fat with just salt and pepper!
Easy Duck Confit
Ingredients
Preparation
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Place the duck legs, fat, and seasonings into a large cast-iron pot with a lid and place the pot into a 150°C oven for 2.5 hours. Then remove the pot and check — the meat is ready when it comes cleanly off the bone. Transfer the cooked duck legs to a pan, skin side down, and fry until nicely crispy. Serve immediately with oven-roasted potatoes and a fresh salad.
