What are your favorite uses for duck confit?

[Abra]

All of my previous forays into duck confit have ended in cassoulet. But now it's almost spring, too late for cassoulet, and I just finished making a bunch of confit yesterday.

Well, actually, I finished it this morning, owing to having forgotten it in the oven overnight. So now I can report that if you make culinarybear's recipe from the confit thread, you can leave it in a 200 degree oven for 22 hours and get a very respectable product. Fortunately, I was already planning to pick it all off the bone, because it was certainly falling off, to the extent that a nice presentation of a whole leg would have been impossible. But for shredding, it was primo.

So now, what shall I do with it? I've been considering ducklava, or a blini canape, or a salad, but would love to get some new and exciting ideas.

[TJHarris]

I have been doing a Duck "Napolean" with the confit seasoned with a bit of five spice powder and layering the confit with flat fried wonton wrappers and sauteed leeks and shitakes. Chive oil and a ginger emulsion.

[derricks]

So now, what shall I do with it?  I've been considering ducklava, or a blini canape, or a salad, but would love to get some new and exciting ideas.

A while back, I made a variant of the Duck Confit with Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Sauce you'll find in Bouchon.

For a recent dinner party, I made a salad of shredded duck confit, garlic confit, watercress and fried orange slices, all dressed with a star anise vinaigrette. My wife says it was one of the best salads I've ever made.

edit: replaced HTML italics with eG italics

Edited February 19, 2005 by derricks (log)

[carswell]

As derricks mentions, it's great in salads. One I've made several times is an adaptation of a di Stasio idea: bitter greens including frisée; apple slices sautéed in butter or duck fat until golden; cider vinegar vinaigrette; shredded duck confit. Have also morphed that using oranges but never with star anise, which sounds like a great addition. Lentil salad with duck confit and walnuts is another winner.

The last time I ate at Le P'tit Plateau, the BYOW that also happens to be the purveyor of Montreal's best duck confit, I enjoyed a riff on shepherd's pie that involved mashed celery root and potatoes, shredded duck confit and, IIRC, mushrooms. Comfort food taken to a very high plane.

Duck confit also makes a great stuffing for ravioli. Or how about a duck confit lasagne?

[culinary bear]

Red onion quarters, blanched in boiling water and then placed into a hot vinaigrette of 1/3 balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and 2/3 olive oil... cooled, and then fanned out, flashed under the grill with a pile of shredded duck confit...

The confit then placed on top of the pickled red onion rosette, with a small rocket and manchego salad, and the reduced vinaigrette around the plate...

[Abra]

Oh no, I'd better start another batch right away! What glorious-sounding dishes, all. I'm dithering about what to make already. I do have some just-picked tender little Brussels sprouts, but I don't have Bouchon. Any hints as to how that preparation was constructed? I also have some really gorgeous mixed braising greens, including some that are bitter, and some apples, and some spare duck shreds that wouldn't fit into my confit container, so that might be lunch.

I love star anise, and that sounds intriguing with the duck. What's the ginger emulsion like? And that red onion salad sounds like such a beautiful presentation. CB, are you calling the quartered and broiled onions the pickled onion rosette, or do you do an additional thinly sliced pickled red onion garnish?

On Epicurious I also see several pairings of duck with parsnips and shallots, both of which I also have in the fridge. That sounds like a nice mellow combination, especially with some bitter greens on the side. I see a lot of great duck dishes in our immediate future.

[culinary bear]

The quartered (and now soft) onions are fanned out into a rosette and not so much broiled as just heated up undr the grill. I'll take a photo of what I mean later...

[Abra]

I can also report that 22 hours of confit-ing notwithstanding, there was still a lot of flavor in those duck bones.

I tossed them in water when I picked off the meat, simmered them for a couple of hours, then added a big pile of diced parsnip, shallot, sliced shiitake mushrooms, a diced apple, a little herbes de Provence, and simmered until the parsnip was tender. Partially pureed, with the "leftover" shreds of duck piled in the center of the bowl, showered with a little freshly grated nutmeg, it was delicious. If it had been more than a sort of accidental home lunch, I would have liked a little drizzle of something spicy and green, like chive or watercress oil, but as it was it made a lovely, if non-traditional, duck soup.

[derricks]

Duck confit also makes a great stuffing for ravioli. Or how about a duck confit lasagne?

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Duck confit ravioli? That...that sounds really good.

Oh no, I'd better start another batch right away!  What glorious-sounding dishes, all.  I'm dithering about what to make already.  I do have some just-picked tender little Brussels sprouts, but I don't have Bouchon.  Any hints as to how that preparation was constructed?

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Ha, I was just thinking the same thing about making more duck confit after reading all these ideas (the leftover duck breasts don't hurt either). But onto the Brussels Sprouts. Let's see. Pull off the tough outer leaves, cut a small slice in the stem, chill in ice water briefly, drop into boiling water, cook until just tender, shock in ice water, slice in half and reheat/finish cooking in a sauce of chicken stock, mustard and chives that's been thickened with a cornstarch slurry.

More or less.

[peppyre]

I'm adding some of my confit to my Grandma's perogie recipe. I haven't tried it before, but truly, what can be bad about confit, cheese and potatoes. I'll let you know how it goes. (This is also the first time I'm ever making grandma's perogies, wish me luck)

[bloviatrix]

I've served duck confit on a bed of bitter greens tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Even better than that was a salad I had out one night -- shredded red cabbage with a sharp vinagrette and caraway seeds with shredded duck confit on top. Great combination.

[Varmint]

Two questions: has anyone ever purchased frozen duck confit? I saw some in Whole Foods that I'd like to try tonight.

Second, can I make a confit ragout to be served with fresh tagliatelle, much like I've done with braised short rib meat? I'm looking for a very rich pasta dish to serve with some kick-ass barolo tonight (I'm cooking at the in-laws).

[Lone Star]

Emeril made nachos with Duck Confit on his program last night. Really.

[Wolfert]

I purchased the frozen duck confit wings at whole foods and used them to flavor a garbure; they worked out perfectly.

Just be sure to purchase confit that is covered in pure white fat.

I recently purchased on line some frozen duck leg confit . It arrived covered in a pinkish-hued fat which tasted like it had been rolled in crushed tomatoes and rosemary. I threw it out. I can't believe industry has already begun to dumb down confit!

Edited March 4, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[Lowblow]

All of my previous forays into duck confit have ended in cassoulet.  But now it's almost spring, too late for cassoulet, and I just finished making a bunch of confit yesterday. 

Well, actually, I finished it this morning, owing to having forgotten it in the oven overnight.  So now I can report that if you make culinarybear's recipe from the confit thread, you can leave it in a 200 degree oven for 22 hours and get a very respectable product.  Fortunately, I was already planning to pick it all off the bone, because it was certainly falling off, to the extent that a nice presentation of a whole leg would have been impossible.  But for shredding, it was primo.

So now, what shall I do with it?  I've been considering ducklava, or a blini canape, or a salad, but would love to get some new and exciting ideas.

←

As a certified confit adict, and as I am usualy eating it when I have got home after a long shift in the kitchen, I tend to have it with braised red cabbage. Admitedly this is because I usualy have an airtight jar of the stuff ready to heat through, in my fridge. If you are hungry enough I would say serve some mashed potato with it as well (although I am usualy too tired to at this stage). Appart from the fact that my braised red cabbage recipe does seem to go with the confit amazingly well (the right balance of acidity and sweetness perhaps?), if you would like the recipe just ask me for it. Simply place two legs of duck confit under a grill to heat and crisp whilst warming through the cabbage in a pan, ten to fifteen minutes and its ready.

PS If this is a little simple for some tastes Im sure I could think of somthing a little more "michelinified"

[Abra]

I'd love to see how you do your red cabbage, as I still have a couple od servings of confit left after making CB's delicious salad with the majority of it. Just what I need is a homey little recipe that I can eat all by myself without feeling like I have to invite guests over for confit!

[chow guy]

My favorite duck confit dish is ravioli in a rich duck broth with sage and wild mushrooms .

[Lowblow]

I'd love to see how you do your red cabbage, as I still have a couple od servings of confit left after making CB's delicious salad with the majority of it.  Just what I need is a homey little recipe that I can eat all by myself without feeling like I have to invite guests over for confit!

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Dear Abra,

Hear is the recipe as promised. I should point out that this dish relies on the type of red wine vinegar that I use, it is Cabernet Sauvignon Red wine vinegar, which has a very low acidity, lots of body and finds its self in many of my sauces and reductions. If you need any help in finding a suplier let me know and I will attempt to track one down for you.

Braised Red Cabbage

Ingredients

150g of unsalted butter

2 red cabbages sliced or shredded

2 white onions thinly sliced

2 cinnamon sticks

290ml red wine

200ml Cabernet sauvignon vinegar

50g soft dark sugar (see note)

salt and pepper

1 small ham bone left over from another use (see note)

Method

Preheat your oven to 160c/325f/Gas 3.

Place the butter in a preheated Le Creuset type pan that is over a medium heat or flame. As soon as the butter begins to stop foaming add the onion and red cabbage, the salt, pepper and cinnamon, then continue to cook stirring well for a few minutes untill the cabbage and onion begin to soften. Add the red wine, red wine vinegar, soft dark sugar and the ham bone if using.

Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and put it in to the preheated oven for approximatley 45 minutes to one hour.

Half way through cooking remove the 2 cinnamon sticks.

When ready check the seasoning and serve (or as I do, allow to cool and put in airtight jars then refrigerate.

Notes, I have found the amount of sugar that people like in this dish to vary so the amount specified is a guide line. If you are using the optional ham bone, I would only use a very little salt at the begining as the ham bone may release a fair amount of salt in to the dish. When it is finished check for seasoning again.

Tip: before sweating sliced, diced or chopped onions, lightly salt them and set aside for five minutes. This incourages the juices to start seaping out from the onions and helps with the sweating or carameliseing in the pan.

PS I cook better than I spell.

[carswell]

Click here for a few suggestions in another thread, including a different approach to the confit and cabbage theme.

In the headnote to her confit recipe in The Cooking of Southwest France, Wolfert also mentions garbure and other soups; fava, bean and lentil dishes; with marinated strips of roasted red bell pepper; and shredded and sautéed with rice and slices of spicy pork sausage. The garbure and that last one sound especially appealing today (9ºF with gusts up to 45 MPH).

Edited March 9, 2005 by carswell (log)

[Abra]

Thanks for the new ideas, all! Lowblow, I make my own red wine vinegar. I don't drink a lot of Cab, since I'm more of an Old World red type, but my vinegar is made with all good wines. Is the specific Cab character important here, or just that it's a high quality vinegar?

It's an interesting idea to salt before sweating. I always salt while sauteeing or sweating, but I've never tried doing it before. I will now, though, just to check it out.

[Lowblow]

Thanks for the new ideas, all!  Lowblow, I make my own red wine vinegar.  I don't drink a lot of Cab, since I'm more of an Old World red type, but my vinegar is made with all good wines.  Is the specific Cab character important here, or just that it's a high quality vinegar?

It's an interesting idea to salt before sweating.  I always salt while sauteeing or sweating, but I've never tried doing it before.  I will now, though, just to check it out.

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No Abra it does not need to be a Cabernet vinegar, although it should be red. The Cabernet is actualy not my favouraite red wine vinegar, the best I have had was Borolo but I cant get it in London . It just has to be a good dark red wine vinegar, and as you make your own (which I have to confess is impresive) I'm sure it will be.

[Abra]

Making one's own vinegar is a cinch, so long as you have a reliable supply of leftover wine. I did a photo demo of the process last summer in my blog. Just scroll a little bit in this post.

[Lowblow]

Making one's own vinegar is a cinch, so long as you have a reliable supply of leftover wine.  I did a photo demo of the process last summer in my blog.  Just scroll a little bit in this post.

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Abra, just looked at your link,

WoW, you can cook, Blueberry&Lavender Jam nealry brought tears to my eyes I will read all of your Blog this evening it looks facinating. And maybe even pluck up the courage to make my own vinegar!!!.

Thank You So Much for the Link