Confiting everything in sight

[helenas]

As my man is out this weekend, i'm free to continue with my cooking experiments. I failed miserably on gnocchi (my first time ever, but this is another story), but i succeeded to confit two things: chicken gizzards and mushrooms. Gizzards confit recipe was from Loomis' French Farmhouse Cookbook, but i used olive oil (where can i get 3 pounds of pork fat anyway). Mushroom confit was by Emeril; i used shiitakes and creminis. I can report success on both tries, and i definitely like the technique.

Anything is left there to confit beyond obvious poultry? (i did salmon and tuna before).

thank you.

[Jinmyo]

By "confit" I think you mean "cooked slowly in fat". Thus: Brined pork belly in bacon fat.

Brine for 2 to 3 days, pack in ziploc bags with bacon fat (or lard), simmer for 1 and 1/2 hours, discard fat, crisp the pork bellyon all sides in a pan, deglaze with verjus.

(Summary based on something Ottawa chef Rene Rodriguez did on FN Canada. Full recipe c'est ici.)

[Fat Guy]

Onions. Tomatoes.

[Malawry]

I made a rabbit confit a week or two ago, at school. Mix rabbit pieces with salt, fresh thyme, pepper, and orange zest. Cure overnight. Cover with duck fat and bake as for duck confit. Yum yum.

[Bouland]

Onions. Tomatoes.

I'm familiar with how to confit garlic, but not onons and tomatoes. Please explain.

[Fat Guy]

I've tried the onion confit thing a few ways, but the best I've made was a red onion confit following the instructions in the CIA book, The Professional Chef. For about two pounds of red onions (julienne) you add 4 oz. honey, 4 oz. red wine, and 5 oz. vinegar. Salt and pepper too. You simmer the mixture for about an hour (the book says 40 minutes) until it's like a marmalade. There's no fat in the recipe so it stretches the definition of confit pretty far, but to eat the stuff you'd swear it was slowly cooked in fat.

The only time I made tomato confit I improvised it with a couple of pints of cherry tomatoes, a lot of olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. I did it in a ceramic dish in the oven at 375 degrees for about half an hour. It came out well enough.

[John Whiting]

It's all a confitance trick.

[SobaAddict70]

The only time I made tomato confit I improvised it with a couple of pints of cherry tomatoes, a lot of olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. I did it in a ceramic dish in the oven at 375 degrees for about half an hour. It came out well enough.

I prefer to confit plum tomatoes. FG's recipe sounds just about right. By a lot of EVOO, that would be at least 1 c. You basically want enough EVOO to partially submerge the tomatoes. Light salt and pepper. Garlic or other aromatics if you want. If using larger toms than cherries, peel and core them, then place them core-side down. About one to one and a half hours in a pre-heated 350 degree oven.

The oil (and toms) are muy delicioso with pasta...

SA

[Fat Guy]

I probably used at least 2 cups of olive oil.

[Bouland]

There's no fat in the recipe so it stretches the definition of confit pretty far...

Ah hah! It seems that chefs and cooks in the U.S., and a few in France, are stretching the definition of confit farther and farther all the time. I'm used to a pile of slow cooked onions to be referred to as a fondant, as in melted, such as in this recipe.

The process of confitting implies cooking the material in fat as part of a preservation process, not just a means of preparating a dish. Afterall, traditional confits of meats are stored in the fat and then reheated for serving. I think it is inappropriate to apply to term to just any slow cooked dish. (Not that you were, but a lot of chefs are doing that.)

[tony h]

celeriac & pumpkin - I use them in terrines. the confit technique cooks them prefectly (goose fat).

[High Priestess]

Hi, Helena. Fennel confit (I use olive oil rather than duck fat and it still turns out) is one of my favorite things to make with grilled salmon or hens. I've also served it beside grilled lamb with a nice bottle of rose and that was great, too.

The recipe is incredibly easy:

Core some farmer's market organic fennel bulbs and slice thin, vertically.

(I reserve the leafy tops to make fumee, but that's a different story...)

Add a big splash of olive oil to a heavy sautee pan and when it's hot add the fennel.

Make sure to use a really big pot or pan so that the fennel is in a thin layer. If not, the fennel will steam.

Sprinkle with some fleur de sel, white pepper and a tiny, tiny bit of ground nutmeg if you want.

Stir the fennel around occasionally as you sautee. It will turn out all soft and carmelly.

Drain all the extra oil before you serve.

Last night, I made shallot confit and served it over seared albacore.

This is what I did, it's a modified version from Bouloud's:

3/4 cup shallots chopped fine

3 cups full-bodied red wine

fleur de sel, fresh pepper

great quality french honey.

Throw the shallots into the wine and reduce, reduce over medium heat until you've got a syrupy

marmelade.

As you're reducing, add salt, pepper and honey to taste.

In Daniel Bouloud's recipe you use 1/2 pound shallots, 2 cups red wine, 1 cup port, and no honey.

This is not really a confit because there's no fat, but, anyway, it was great.

[Fat Guy]

Bouland, yes and you should see the things they're calling carpaccio these days.

[Suzanne F]

Bouland, yes and you should see the things they're calling carpaccio these days.

Shameful, n'est-ce pas? But then "beef carpaccio" was a made-up name anyway, not a classic presentation, so it should be fair game for redefinition.

[nightscotsman]

Bouland, yes and you should see the things they're calling carpaccio these days.

Shameful, n'est-ce pas? But then "beef carpaccio" was a made-up name anyway, not a classic presentation, so it should be fair game for redefinition.

Aren't all the classic presentations just must made up names as well - just older? Or am I missing something?

[jciel]

As an American traditionalist, I must concur with Bouland on the term confit.Everywhere is the term much used for preparations that are not. Why not call a marmalade, marmalade? Would a rose...? However, into this foray I will throw my fave Diver scallops confited in Bacon fat; simple and oh so succulent. This requires more time than one might expect, but low heat and time do a phenomenal job.

[Fat Guy]

I think it's inevitable in nouvelle cuisine that chefs will look for classic names to attach to new recipes -- or old processes applied to new ingredients -- as a way of communicating what the customer should expect. Like, "pineapple carpaccio" says to me that I'm going to get thin, raw slices of pineapple. If that's what I get, I guess it's a fair use of the word. If I hear confit I guess I'm expecting something with a certain texture and lusciousness to it. So if I get that I'm willing to forgive or even support the linguistic departure. I just wish chefs would actually try to comprehend the old techniques before assigning their names to everything.

[High Priestess]

Hello, Fat Guy.

The chef I mentioned is called Daniel Boulud, not Bouland.

And, I looked up his recipe and he actually calls the shallots compote, not confit.

So, it was my misphrasing, not his.

If you're going to give anyone a sarcastic reprimand, you can give it to me.

-Priestess

[helenas]

Check it out: pork confit in the F&W magazine (Oct 2002, p.108) , from Italy recited by Paula Wolfert:

( no link, unfortunately, as with most of Wolfert's contributions)

[Wilfrid]

I am going to be making my annual ration of confit soon - duck legs and rabbit legs stored in an enormous jar of goose fat.

Last year, for the first time, the confit went bad on me. I think it was because I inadvertently left some meat sticking out of the grease. I always sterilize the jar as best I can before filling it. Are there any other hygiene tips I should be observing?

[nightscotsman]

I'm thinking about maybe considering doing turkey confit for Thanksgiving this year. I found only one recipe on-line specifically for turkey legs, but they aren't actually cooked in fat. Does this look right to you? would you bake with or without the skin?:

http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/0818.html

Also, if I were to make a more traditional confit with the meat entirely submerged in fat, I don't think I can get my hands on that much duck or goose fat. Would it be OK to use some kind of oil?

Jinmyo mentioned in her post above packing the meat with fat in zip-loc bags and simmering. I assume this would mean simmering in a water bath? Can anybody give me more details on this method?

Thanks