Oh Aye, I went there.
I'm not sure what was going through my mind when at 9:30pm on a friday night I decided to make Duck Confit. Especially as I was making it for Sunday lunch! But as I slathered the legs in garlic, salt & covered it in oil to put them in the oven and slowly braise for 3 hours I knew there was no going back.
Once the 3 hours was I let the confit cool a bit before putting the dish straight in the fridge. Theoretically Confit can last up to a month in the fridge, I'm not that brave and only left it about a day & a half.. I simply roasted the legs in a tin foil parcel slightly open at the top to allow the skin to crisp up. It fell from the bone, I have an awful habit of panicking and pulling meat from the oven too soon, I resisted this instinct and the legs were really great!
I then roasted some par-boiled potatoes in the duck fat with rosemary & garlic. I covered the potatoes in flour before frying in the oil, this creates a beautiful crunch on the potatoes. Seriously good.
I'm going to be honest I didnt really take note of exact times and temperatures on this one. It was very much fluid & improvised, although I know that I started the oven off just below 190 and raised it above 210 at the end to crisp off the duck skin and the potatoes. The duck was in for about an hour and the roasties for 40 of that. I very much stuck with the "until golden brown" rule when came to the potatoes.
The gravy was a base of onions, garlic & rosemary (to tie in with the potatoes) with a mix of vegetable stock & chicken gravy granules. sounds wierd but it tasted awesome and needs very little seasoning thanks to the stock. I would love to have served some vegtables with this but I didn't have any. some frozen peas & carrots would be great if you're going the traditional Sunday Dinner route.
This two day meal is actually very simple & not labour intensive at all! You are reading the ramblings of a very happy full person right now.
