Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Ad Hoc Duck Confit and Duck Confit Pizza

I have a confession to make, I love duck confit. (Seriously, I might like it as much, if not more, than bacon!) If it's on a menu I can't resist ordering it. So, one of my kitchen resolutions for this year was to make it at home. This fits perfectly with our goal to cook our way through Ad Hoc at Home since it contains a recipe for it.
Ad Hoc Duck Confit
Last week we made the Ad Hoc Pan Seared Duck Breast leaving us with the legs & thighs from our Peking Duck. We reserved all the fat from cooking the breasts & then I rendered the rest of the fat we got from butchering the duck. (I have to say it would have been helpful if Ad Hoc at Home actually explained how to render the fat, I ended up searching out instructions online.) Next I made an herb salt from kosher salt, brown sugar, a bay leaf, peppercorns, fresh thyme & parsley. The duck got rubbed with the salt (about 1 tablespoon per leg) & then sat in the fridge overnight to cure.
Ad Hoc Duck Confit - Day 1Ad Hoc Duck Confit - Day 1
The next day I rinsed & dried the duck then fit it into the smallest baking dish I could. The duck then gets covered in the rendered fat. Here's where I ran into a problem, I didn't have enough fat from the one duck to cover the legs. According to our charcuterie book lard was a fine substitute & I just happened to have some on hand. I sealed the baking dish with some tin foil since it didn't have a lid and put the whole thing in the oven where it slowly cooked at 190 F for 8 hours.
Ad Hoc Duck Confit - Day 2
At this point the duck is tender but doesn't fall off the bone when I take a fork to it. I put the duck into a plastic container & strained the fat over it leaving any of the duck juiced behind.
Ad Hoc Duck Confit - Day 2
Then we let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days which apparently improves the flavor. At this point you can serve it by pan searing the confit skin-side down in a little of the fat until brown & crispy & then just heating through in the oven. This is what is suggested in Ad Hoc.
Duck Confit Pizza
We decided to use one of the legs & thighs on a pizza similar to the one I had on our first anniversary. We kept this pizza really simple to showcase the salty, tender duck. We started with a whole wheat pizza crust (just our favorite pizza crust substituting 1/3 of the flour with whole wheat flour.) with a little garlic in it. That we topped with 3 ounces of fontina cheese, one sliced leek, the confit, fleur de sel, freshly ground pepper & a drizzle of olive. Let it cook for 15 minutes at 450 F. A pizza that is simply delicious!

Sure duck confit is a little time consuming to make but most of the time is hands off & the end result was worth it!

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© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

12 comments:

  1. very nice! love your way of thinking girl!

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  2. kat & Matt... I love your creativity and the ease you bring to any recipe. Your pizza is absolutely amazing...

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  3. We love pizza nights! Nice one!

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  4. I don't like it when cookbook authors just expect that you'll know a certain technique, so they skip elaborating on it.

    But you did a great job--the pizza looks wonderful!

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  5. My husband loves duck confit. If it is on the menu, it's always what he orders. I love the idea of it on a pizza. Your combination sounds delcious!

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  6. I'm seeing all these wonderful Ad Hoc recipes made and now I totally wanna go get the book! I love your creativity with this. Pizza is perfect for any night!

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  7. I've never had duck confit, but it's on my list of things I want to try.

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  8. This looks so good. I was never a big fan of duck- always too greasy. Served this way I think it would be sensational.

    I did change my mind about duck when I had chooche duck at this Thai restaurant in Ithaca NY. Now I can totally see where you are coming from !

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  9. fancy-shmancy and oh-so-appetizing! having never had the fortune of tasting duck confit, i can only imagine how delicious your gorgeous pizza would be. sad, isn't it. don't cry for me. :)

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  10. I'm already sold on duck confit but topping some pizza with it well, that's just evil genius.

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  11. I totally agree about the duck confit - so hard to pass up! Especially when there are lentils alongside. Your pizza looks completely delicious.

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