Recipes

Duck Confit with White Beans

Photo by Rush Jagoe

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yields

6 servings

    ingredients
    Duck confit
  • 1 cup salt
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon chili flakes
  • 10 bay leaves, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons thyme, dried
  • 2 tablespoons pepper
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 6 duck legs
  • 1½ quarts rendered duck fat
  • Stewed white beans (recipe follows)
  • Bourbon mustard (recipe follows)
  • Sprouts for garnish, optional
  • Stewed White Beans
  • 1 pound dried white beans
  • 1 ounce rendered duck or bacon fat
  • 1 cup yellow onion, diced small
  • ½ cup celery, diced small
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 quarts chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • Bourbon mustard
  • 1 cup bourbon
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup dijon mustard
steps

Duck Confit

  1. Make duck cure by mixing together first 8 ingredients.
  2. Season duck legs well with duck cure and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse duck legs well and set in a small baking dish, covering with rendered duck fat (legs should be completely submerged in fat). Roast in oven until tender, without coloring—lower the oven temperature if browning—about 1 hour.
  4. Before serving, carefully brown duck legs, skin side down, in a large skillet until crispy.
  5. To serve, scoop about 1 cup stewed white beans into center of each plate. Carefully top with a crisp skinned duck leg. Drizzle bourbon mustard lightly off the end of a spoon over the duck leg and on plate. Garnish with sprouts or small salad for height and color.

Stewed Beans

  1. Soak white beans overnight in clean, cool water; rinse.
  2. In a large saucepot, heat rendered fat over medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic, and chili flakes and cook 5 minutes.
  3.  Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce to a light simmer. Cook, stirring often, until beans begin to break down and become creamy, about 1 hour. Note: You may need to add water or stock as beans cook. Stir often to avoid scorching.

Bourbon Mustard

  1. Add bourbon and both sugars to a stainless steel pot. Reduce mixture by 1/3 over low heat, until slightly syrupy, being careful not to scorch or ignite the bourbon. Whisk in mustard and let cool.
    Yields: 1 cup
  • from Chef Alex Harrell of Sylvain, New Orleans, LA

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