A very traditional French dish, Duck Confit is salt brined duck legs and thighs which are slow cooked until falling-off-the-bone and fabulously rich and delicious, baked while bathed in their own beautiful umami fats. Then the skin is crisped in the broiler, producing both glossy meat and crackling skin. This is our absolute favorite of all dishes using birds.
For years we have returned again and again to this simple savory feast… it’s like an old trusted friend. We just tossed this chubby duck inside the clay pot along with tons of veggies, stuck it a cold oven, set it to 475 degrees and got back to the family fun. An hour later, time to feast. It’s that simple.
We first tasted this classic New England meal, appropriately enough, in the food hall of Harrod’s in London, many years ago. It was a revelation. This feast has a timeless wildness to it, that speaks of a life lived outdoors and long ago, and of the fireplace and hearth, the warmth of home in a rugged country. This is a meal created by rural working folks and those who hunted and labored in the outdoors and in the garden.