Lord, Love a Duck ... A Pictorial History of Confit Production

Here is how I made confit de canard this weekend.

To begin, I sectioned the ducks into quarters,

leaving the bones where they belonged:

I didn't forget to save the carcasses, wings,

and other bits and pieces for stock fabrication:

I retrieved the last of the thyme from the garden ...

... and assembled the rest of my mis en place

(peppercorns, kosher salt, bay leaves):

I salted the duck pieces liberally, layered them with the herbs and spices,

and stored the lot, covered, in the fridge for 7 hours:

I isolated myself in a secret location

and wrapped Christmas presents:

When the time was up, I rinsed the duck sections, dried them carefully,

and fried them over low heat until they were nicely brown

and the fat started to render in the pan. It took about half an hour

in three pans. The aromas in the kitchen were amazing:

I decanted the pieces into my small French oven:

I poured in all the rendered fat, but didn't have enough to cover the pieces.

Luckily, my friendly FedEx man had delivered extra tubs on Friday:

In it went!

I covered the pot tightly and placed it in a 300 deg F oven for three hours.

During this time, I scrubbed all the kitchen surfaces (and the floor, too!)

of splattered duck fat:

When the duck was tender, melting, and falling off the bone,

I removed it from the oven and placed it on a clean dish. We tasted a morsel

that fell off during this process. It was rich and amazing.

With Sir's help, I strained the duck fat through my favorite piece of cheesecloth, made a thin layer in the bottom a plastic container, and piled the duck on top.

I finished with the rest of the rendered fat.

When it had cooled in the garage for a while, it looked like this:

I popped a lid on the container and placed it in the back of the fridge,

where it will mellow and marinate.

In a couple of weeks we will heat the container to liquify the fat;

excavate the duck pieces; crisp them up under the grill or in a saute pan;

and slurp them happily.

Who needs a trip to France when there's duck confit in the house?