Crock Pot Duck Confit Food

CROCK POT DUCK

Steps:

• Mix poultry seasoning and seasoned salt together.
• Season duck liberally with mixture.
• Place a rack in your 6 quart slow cooker. Or, if you do not have a rack, make four foil balls to place in the bottom of your slow cooker to lift your duck off the bottom of the slow cooker.
• Place the duck breast side down into your slow cooker on the rack or balls.
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the duck reaches the internal temperature of 170.
• If desired, place duck on a lined cookie sheet and broil on each side to crisp skin. Watch broiler carefully as to not burn skin.

INSTANT POT DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• Combine salt, pepper, garlic, cloves, bay leaves, star anise, and allspice berries in a small bowl. Coat duck legs with spice mixture on all sides. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer to refrigerator, uncovered. Let sit at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.
• Scrape aromatics off of duck legs and reserve. Place legs in an even layer, skin side down, in Instant Pot. Place on saute setting. Cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Flip legs, add aromatics to pot, and top with lid. Place on high pressure and cook 40 minutes. Release pressure manually. Carefully remove legs from instant pot. You can either crisp the skin in a skillet over medium-low heat and eat immediately, or transfer legs to a heat-proof container or bowl. Cover with rendered fat from cooking. Let cool and refrigerate until ready to use. For best results, scrape excess fat off of chilled duck legs and sear in a cold skillet over medium heat until skin is golden and crispy, flipping once.

CROCK POT DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• combine salt and sugar.
• put the legs in a plastic container, cover with salt/sugar mix, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• rinse the duck and soak in cold water to cover for 2 hours.
• drain duck and put into crock pot.
• cover with duck fat and use olive oil if needed to completely cover.
• add garlic, pepper, thyme.
• turn crock pot on to low setting, cook for 3 hours until meat falls off the bone.
• remove from crock pot, pour fat into a ceramic bowl.
• let the duck and fat cool to room temperature.
• store the duck in the fat in an airtight plastic container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• Place the duck breasts in the insert of a 5 1/2 to 6 quart slow cooker and add the fat, garlic, shallot, salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence. Cover, set the slow cooker on HIGH, and cook for 1 hour. Reduce the heat to LOW and cook until the duck is very, very tender--at least 4 and up to 8 hours. Use a slotted spoon to remove the duck from the fat, which can be strained, frozen, and reused. Serve the duck hot or at room temperature, or use it to make cassoulet.
• There are three ways to get chicken fat for this recipe: You can skim congealed fat off the top of chicken soup or stock, buy it in a plastic tub from a kosher butcher, or make it yourself. To make your own, place raw chicken fat in a heavy saucepan and cook very slowly over medium-low heat until the fat has melted, the connective tissue has darkened and crisped, and any water has evaporated. Strain the rendered fat into a bowl. Rendered chicken fat can be kept in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 6 months.

CHINESE-STYLE DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• Combine the peppercorns and salt in a heavy skillet and toast over moderate heat, stirring, until the salt turns off-white, about 5 minutes.
• Adjust the heat so the peppercorns do not burn, but expect them to smoke.
• Let the mixture cool slightly, then run through a spice grinder or food processor until you get a very fine powder.
• Sieve to get rid of any husks from the peppercorns.
• Set aside.
• Sprinkle about 1/3 (about 1 tbl.) of the pepper-salt generously over the duck legs, massaging it well into the skin.
• Save the rest of the pepper-salt for another use.
• Put the legs in a zip-lock bag or a glass container covered tightly with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge overnight.
• Let come to room temperature before cooking.
• Heat a large heavy casserole over moderate heat until hot enough to evaporate a bead of water on contact.
• Add 2 tbl.
• of the duck fat and swirl to glaze the bottom of the pan.
• Add the duck legs in a single layer and brown on both sides.
• Adjust the heat so the skin browns without scorching and drizzle in a bit more fat if needed.
• Remove the pot from the heat and carefully drain off any burned fat.
• Return the pot and seared duck legs to moderate heat.
• Add the duck fat and the confit seasonings.
• Nudge the legs from the bottom while the mixture comes to a gentle simmer, then adjust the heat so that the fat does not boil.
• Simmer uncovered until the duck is very tender at it's thickest part and almost falling off the bone, about 40 minutes.
• Use tongs to carefully transfer the legs to a shallow container.
• Let the fat cool until tepid, about 30 minutes, then carefully strain over the duck legs.
• Discard the solids.
• Arrange the legs so they are completely submerged in the fat, and place, uncovered, in the refrigerator.
• Once the fat congeals, cover the container tightly.
• In this state, the confit can be stored for 1 day to 2 weeks before using.
• To serve, warm the container over low heat or in a slow oven until the fat turns liquid, then remove the legs.
• Strip the legs of skin, then pull the meat from the bone in shreds.
• Discard the skin, bones and any cartilage.
• The meat is best when just taken from the bone, but you can store it in the refrigerator in shreds, just warm to room temperature before using.
• You may have to adjust the seasonings with more pepper-salt.
• The seasoned duck fat can be frozen indefinitely.
• Strain through several layers of dry cheesecloth to trap excess pepper-salt, then seal and freeze for your next batch of confit.
• On the second go-round you won't need to season the duck fat, but you will need to add 2 cups of fresh duck fat to the pot in order to cover the same amount of legs.

DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• To cook one duck, you need about 2 1/2 cup duck fat. A 4.5 lb. duck renders at least 1 cup of fat. Ask your butcher for extra duck fat, or you'll need another cooking fat to supplement. I'd use a mild lard; it's flavor isn't obtrusive. A 4.5 lb. Long Island duck typically yields about 8 oz confit meat (equal parts leg and breast meat).
• PREPARE THE DUCK: Cut the legs and each breast half from the duck. Trim any excess skin and fat from the legs and save for rendering.
• Gently but firmly pull the skin from the breast meat. Set the skin aside and put the breast and legs in a baking dish.
• Sprinkle liberally with the salt. Nestly the bay leaves, thyme and garlic among the duck pieces. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• RENDER THE FAT: Trim all the skin and fat from the carcass. Put the skin and fat, including the skin from the breasts and trimmings from the legs in a small heavy saucepan over low heat. Cook, partially covered, at a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent the skin from sticking.
• After about 1 1/2 hours, the skin will be a deep golden in color and crisp, meaning it has rendered almost all of its fat. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool slightly.
• Strain the fat into a container, seal it, and refrigerate until ready to use. The crisped skin may be eaten or discarded.
• COOK THE DUCK: In a heavy, 1 1/2 qt saucepan, melt the rendered fat over low heat. Blot the duck pieces with paper towels to remove any excess salt and to dry them. Put the duck in the pan, along with garlic, thyme and bay laves. Arrange the pieces so that they're all submerged. If needed, add more lard.
• Cook, uncovered, at a very gently simmer, between 185 degrees and 195 degrees, for 2 hours. Do not stir, and never let it boil. After 2 hours, the duck confit will be very tender and will come easily off the bone.
• Lift the duck from the fat using tongs and either use imediately or cool and store, covered, in the refrigerateor for up to a week.

CROCK POT ONION CONFIT

Steps:

• If you don't have demi-glace, take 2 cups good-quality stock and reduce to 1/2 cup.
• Place everything in crock pot and thoroughly combine.
• Turn to high, until just before going to bed (about eight hours).
• Stir.
• Turn to low for overnight.
• Upon waking, stir, and turn back to high until finished.
• Water content will vary from onion to onion, so if your confit is still quite watery towards the end, remove lid and allow excess water to cook off.
• This will keep for at least two weeks, covered, in the refrigerator.