EATING OUT IN PARIS - DUCK CONFIT

We have just been to visit my sister in law who has recently moved to Paris and there are so many lovely things to admire about that city. The architecture, the style, the art – just so much to see and do but there is one Parisian great that surpasses everything else for me and that is the food. Oh we ate so well. Expensively sometimes, especially if we didn’t check out the menu before ordering.  We were aghast when a few croissants, an omelette, orange juice (amazingly fresh but still) and coffee for four came to just under €50.  A lesson well learned. Our next forays for breakfast got us ensuring we had a fixed price menu which was filling and kept us going throughout our sightseeing, meaning we could just have a break at a Salon de Thé and enjoy a macaroon or one of the delightful pastries on offer.

I am a little embarrassed to say that out of three evening meals, I chose Duck Confit twice. Both times were good but the first was excellent.  So rich in flavour yet just melts in the mouth. I can’t remember what I had on the other night now at all. Memories of the duck have completely overridden it.

So when I got home, missing Paris madly, I decided to make duck confit. I looked through a variety of recipes but decided to go with Jamie Oliver’s Duck Confit, pg 324, in Jamie Does. I think it was the juniper berries that swayed it. 

Anyway it was all very straight forward. You put 6 duck legs onto a large roasting tray. Bash 10 juniper berries and 4 cloves in a pestle and mortar and then sprinkle the shrapnel over the duck legs with a generous couple of handfuls of sea salt.  Tear 6 bay leaves and a small bunch of thyme onto the tray. Then rub salt and flavourings into the duck legs. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight.

 

The next day, grab a large pan and put it on a low flame. Rinse the salt off the duck legs and pat dry with kitchen towel.

Put the duck legs in to the pan and spoon in 1.75kg duck fat. Leave on low heat for 2 and ½ hours but as Jamie reminds in his recipe do remember hot fat is nasty stuff so take care.   When time’s up, turn off the heat and leave to cool. If you want to check the legs are ready, use tongs to grab a leg and check that the meat pulls apart easily. 

When it’s all cool, ladle some of the fat from the pan into a large container and again, use the tongs to move your duck legs.  Carefully pour in the rest of the duck fat. You must make sure the legs are absolutely covered. Cover with a lid or clingfilm, pop in the fridge and you can leave it there for weeks. When you want to tuck into a ducks leg, pull them out of the fat, wipe off the excess fat and fry for 20 mins and until skin is crispy and the meat is hot through.

I have served it up with Puy lentils and I have to say while I may not give the Parisian chefs any sleepless nights, this duck hits the spot perfectly. Moist, flavoursome meat covered in deliciously crispy skin.

Hopefully now that I can make my own duck confit and hence eat it year round I will eat something else next time we get to Paris.