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

Confit De Canard!! Sacre Bleu! kev

Peter Aitken wrote:

> 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!

Sounds great. Obtaining enough fat to cover it all can
be a challenge. My solution is to cook a goose every now and
then, which yields about 4-5 C.

> 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.

That works. I like to start them in a cast iron pan on the
stove top, flip them, then transfer to the oven.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 19:18:10 GMT, "Peter Aitken"
> wrote:

>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.

Would that be Ruhlman's book Charcuterie?
http://ruhlman.com/books/charcuterie.html

I had duck confit recently in France. Astonishingly delicious. As
was the cured duck breast, which is probably a close kin to the duck
breast prosciutto you mention. I've been considering making some for
several months -- ever since I saw a recipe in one of Tom Colicchio's
cookbooks.


modom

"modom" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 19:18:10 GMT, "Peter Aitken"
> > wrote:
>
>>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.
>
> Would that be Ruhlman's book Charcuterie?
> http://ruhlman.com/books/charcuterie.html
>
> I had duck confit recently in France. Astonishingly delicious. As
> was the cured duck breast, which is probably a close kin to the duck
> breast prosciutto you mention. I've been considering making some for
> several months -- ever since I saw a recipe in one of Tom Colicchio's
> cookbooks.
>
>
> modom

That's the book - highly recommended.


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

On 2006-01-13, Peter Aitken > wrote:
> Afrer buyng the new book Charcutere - a wonderful book by the way if you are
> not afraid of fat......

Mmmmm.... duck fat.

I have some recipes from a Rick Danko cooking class I attended. If
you're interested, I'll email them (confit, prosciutto, breasts, foie
gras).

nb

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
...
> Afrer buyng the new book Charcutere - a wonderful book by the way if you
are
> not afraid of fat -

"Give in to the lipid side, Luke!"

> 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.

That sounds really good; I presume the use of such is pretty much
wherever you'd try "normal" prosciutto. Can't wait to hear how this
turns out.

Bob M.

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> On 2006-01-13, Peter Aitken > wrote:
>> Afrer buyng the new book Charcutere - a wonderful book by the way if you
>> are
>> not afraid of fat......
>
> Mmmmm.... duck fat.
>
> I have some recipes from a Rick Danko cooking class I attended. If
> you're interested, I'll email them (confit, prosciutto, breasts, foie
> gras).
>
> nb

That would be great - thanks so much. peter(at)pgacon.com.


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

Peter Aitken wrote:

> 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.

Tonight we had very thin slices of raw beef ribeye heated/cooked briefly
in demi-glace and laid on grilled slices of Italian bread; demi spooned
over. Served with sliced golden spuds sauteed with onions and a smidge
of pancetta in duck fat hanging around from the duck dinner extravaganza
for two of a couple weeks back.

Grand...

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

Agreed. And, unlike chicken stock, can be made into a very reduced sauce
and still hold its flavor.

Pastorio

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:22:44 -0600, notbob > wrote:


>Mmmmm.... duck fat.

Last summer I found so many mushrooms I could not freeze them any
more, so I cooked them in diluted vinegar and stored them in closed
jars. Over Xmas I had a duck which gave me nearly 400g of duck fat.
Now over lunch, if I take a slice of bread, use the duck fat as
butter, stray with salt, add some sausage, and top with one or two
vinegar mushrooms - it turns an everyday sandwich into a phantastic
delicacy!

fkoe