This is an easy and foolproof way to prepare your own duck confit legs at home. More economical and practical. The downside is that you'll need a sous vide setup and a vacuum packer. While the initial outlay may seem a bit extravagant for these two devices, I promise you that you will find many uses for both, and in retrospect wonder why you didn't purchase them sooner.
The beauty of this method versus the traditional one is that you won't need a vat full of duck fat into which you have to immerse and carefully cook the legs at a constant near simmer, 195 ℉ for 2 hours. You have to watch the temperature like a hawk. There is a lot of cleanup to do afterwards. There is enough fat in the duck legs themselves to effectively immerse them for the duration of the sous vide cook. And there will even be a little extra fat land gelatin to harvest and set aside for later use (e.g. wonderful for roasting potatoes).
Ingredients
Duck legs
Thyme, oregano, rosemary, coarse kosher salt, ground pepper, garlic
Method
Pat the duck legs dry. Generously apply coarse salt (don't worry, you'll knock off the excess at the end). Rub with freshly ground pepper and minced garlic. Place into vacuum bag and top with the herbs (2 legs per small size bag seems to work best), and seal. Place into sous vide prepped to 155 ℉. Cook for 36 hours. * If you're going to all this trouble, you may as well make few more confits to freeze for later use.
Remove from the sous vide and let cool in an orientation to permit the juices to pool at the near end of the bag. This will make for easier retrieval of the lovely fat and gelatin later on. Freeze any extra confits you've prepared right in the same bags. They'll keep for months in your freezer.
Remove the legs from the bags. Discard the herbs and extraneous bits of garlic and salt. Do this carefully so as not to separate the skin from the meat. Harvest the gelatin and fat; save for other uses.
Meats prepared in the sous vide will have a sad look to them. They require an additional finishing step to add crispiness and color to the surface. The crispy skin on the duck confit legs is an absolute delight! Helen Rennie's technique for crisping the skin for final presentation is clever and effective.
Serve over bed of greens, with crusty French bread, and of course, wine. Simplicity and elegance.
Alex
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