Duck Confit at home 2nd try

 Pan frying duck confit after curing for 48 hours and slow cooking it for 3 hours.

I HAD always been under the impression that making duck confit at home was a major undertaking, something along the lines of poaching a whole foie gras or deboning a pig’s foot. It was on the list of things to cook in my lifetime, but not necessarily high on the page.

So I gamely cured duck legs in salt and spices for 6 hours, then submerged them in melted duck fat and cooked them slowly in the oven until they were shining and bronzed, with crunchy, brittle skin, tender flesh and a brawny, meaty flavor.

My hubby gobbled them up, stripping the bones. Then I sadly realized I’d probably never make them again. It wasn’t that they were that difficult to prepare. But they did involve getting close and personal with two quarts of liquid duck fat, which is not only messy but pricey.

Given that, it is actually cheaper (and easier) to buy prepared duck confit, which is nearly as good; but it is never the same when you finally and completely made it yourself.  Time aside.

Encouraged, I made duck confit again, salting and curing the meat as I did the last time, but left it for 48 hours. Two days later, I seared the duck legs in a pan, letting the fat render out until it was a quarter-inch deep.  Then I covered the pan and stuck it in the oven for three hours, uncovering it for the last hour to allow the skin to turn crisp and golden.

That was it. The duck came out just as rich and glistening as it did in the submerged version, but instead of having a quart of leftover duck fat, I had only a cup. (Leftover fat is great for sautéing vegetables, fish and shrimp.)

Nevertheless, that’s enough to take me through at least several weeks, which, when you can easily make it again, is really all you need.

This is certainly the best success I had ever felt in a long time.