Half-off Duck

Yes, you read it right, half-OFF duck..not half-of-duck...rather the former which indicates clearance-duck, sale-priced duck, discount-duck if you will.....

That's what has inspired me to post my first recipe on this blog, because as I type, slowly poaching away downstairs are 6 legs of 'discount-duck'....cooked in my absolute favorite fashion--confit de canard, which is essentially duck legs cured in salt and then poached in duck-fat, s-l-o-w-l-y.......for as much as 10 hours or as little as 2......sounds like a lot of work I know, but it is not.  In fact it most definitely falls into the category of 'easy French food that will make you look like a professional chef who studied culinary sciences at Le Cordon Bleu'....

I learned to make it a few years ago, after personally getting over the hang-up that it was probably way-too labor intensive and time consuming--the first part is not the case but yes, it does take time--but the time it takes is mostly taken up as time in the fridge 'curing' and time in the oven simmering away--neither actually takes your time.

Just a side note--I literally spent years researching (read tasting) every single duck confit I could find while dining out--and while I never ever had a bad entre of duck confit--one of the very best was found at a knock-your-socks off resturant in Woodenville, Washington called "The Barking Frog"... that was a five-course meal that still holds it's place in my history as the best meal I have ever had--and would be the last meal I would order should I find out I was dying tomorrow.

Honorable mention goes to my absolute fave bistro in the entire US, also located in the Pacific Northwest at Cafe Campagne, located in an alley just a few trudges up the hill from Pike Place Market-

-F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s duck confit served in a single-serving cast iron skillet served over crispy rich sauteed potatoes with garlic and rosemary..I have had it there many, many times and it is where I got my six year old hooked on it!

The 'half-off' part is the fact that I found fresh duck legs at our local super-marche for half of the normal price (about 3euro per kilo rather than the 7 euro and even at that it is not expensive at full-price and always available!)  In the US I think the price is close to double and found in the freezers rather than fresh most commonly.......so let's say aside from very special circumstances--discount duck is an "Only In France" thing!

By the way-if you are not familiar with it--the bonus is that once cooked the duck can be saved (stored in the fat) in the fridge for up to six months...it can be used in lots of different other French dishes like Cassoulette..but in our house we usually eat it all in less than a week--it's just way too tempting sitting there calling from the fridge!

Bon Apetite!

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Six duck legs or leg quarters
4 tbs. coarse sea-salt
4 tbs. Herbe de Provence
Black pepper
8 whole 'bruised' cloves of garlic
6 or more sprigs of fresh rosemary
2-4 cups of duck fat (you can buy this at gourmet markets, on-line, or render your own from cooking whole ducks and reserving the fat for future use.)

 Rinse and dry duck legs and place in large glass bowl--toss with the above and leave in fridge for 24 hours.

After the duck legs have 'cured' in the salt/herb mixture, remove from fridge and wipe off the excess salt and herbs with a paper-towel and place legs (and garlic cloves) into an enameled cast iron pot (dutch oven).

Cover the legs with the duck fat, put on the pot lid and place pot in 275-300 degree oven for 4 to 8 hours or more!  I tend to start the legs at 300 and reduce the heat down as they cook if needed.

When the legs are done, remove them from the pot and save all of that amazing duck fat in a clean jar for future cooking!  You can store the legs in the fridge in the fat or eat them within 2 weeks.....

To serve:  place the legs on a oven tray and 'crisp' the skin under the broiler for 5 minutes--serve with salad, pomme frite, or root vegetable puree......

	Savourez!