Afrer buyng the new book Charcutere - a wonderful book by the way if you are
not afraid of fat - I decided that I had to make my own duck confit. It's
turned into quite a project. First I had to dissect three ducks, and their
anatomy is quite different from that of a chicken. The ix legs were set
aside to marinate with cloves and garlic for a couple of days - these will
be the confit. Then I boned the breasts. Two half breasts I froze, two will
be tonight's dinner, and two are turning into "duck prosciutto." I hope this
turns out as good as it sounds - it's quite simple. The breasts are
completely covered with salt for a day then removed, rinsed, dried, dusted
with pepper, and wrapped in cheesecloth to hang in a cool place for a week.

Of course I need lots of fat for the confit so I rendered the extra duck
skin and all internal fat. I got about 2 cups and if that's not enough I
will add some lard. Tomorrow the legs will be rinsed, dried, put in an oven
dish and completely covered with fat. 6 to 10 hours in a 180 degree oven and
voila! Apparently a favored way to serve them is to remove a leg from the
fat, put in a 450 oven for 15 minutes to warm and crisp the skin, and serve
over potatoes sauteed in duck fat.

Finally all the bones and scraps went into the stock pot. I find duck stock
to be a great base for bean soups.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm