Directions: |
Directions:Pat the legs dry and liberally season with salt and pepper. Place on a rack on a cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours.
Remove the legs form refrigerator and allow them to reach room temperature. Take the leg and cut around the leg with a sharp paring knife one quarter inch below the joint where the leg and foot meet. Make sure and cut all the way to the bone. This will allow the thigh meat to retract up the leg towards the thigh as the duck cooks over time preventing the meat from fraying. After the ducks cooks you will end up with a lollipop look with all the meat up the leg towards the thigh and the lower leg bone exposed resembling a lollipop stick.
Place legs in a slower cooker. Add the duck fat bay leaves, pepper corns, garlic and thyme. Make sure that the duck legs are completely covered with the duck fat. If they are not you have a choice. You can buy more duck fat (which can be expensive but worth it) or you can use the canola oil to top it off. True duck confit uses only duck fat....the choice is yours.NOTE: It helps not to use a very large slow cooker but one that is of medium size.
Cook the legs on LOW setting for until the meat is very tender and is pulling away from the bone, typically 6 to 8 hours. Once cooked remove the slow cooker insert with the legs out of the cooker and allow the contents to reach room temperature, about 2 hours. Once cooled, place the legs into an airtight container and add enough of the liquids to COMPLETELY cover the legs. Place it a refrigerator for one week.
To prepare, place about a cup of the oil into a nonstick fry pan. When the oil is hot place the legs in the pan skin side down and fry until brown and crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Turn the legs and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Once done place the legs on a rack to drain and serve immediately. |
This recipe for Duck Confit is from