Duck Confit Pasta Food

DUCK CONFIT, THE RIGHT WAY

Steps:

• Combine shallot, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme in a small bowl. Rub all over duck legs, thighs, and wings.
• Arrange duck parts skin side-up in a dish and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until the seasoning is well absorbed, 24 to 48 hours.
• Rinse off the seasoning and pat the duck dry. Arrange duck in a single layer in a 9x13-inch baking pan. Let duck stand until it reaches room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C).
• Melt duck fat in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbles begin to form, 6 to 8 minutes. Pour duck fat over the room-temperature duck.
• Bake duck in the preheated oven until tender and the juices run clear, 2 to 3 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 135 degrees F (57 degrees C). Pour off the duck fat.
• Brush a grill pan with some of the used duck fat and heat over medium-high heat until smoking. Add baked duck; cook in batches until skin is crispy, about 90 seconds per side.

DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Rub salt, pepper and the minced garlic all over the duck and under the skin. Place the duck, breast down, in a deep braising pan and add duck fat to fully submerge; the amount of fat will vary depending on pan size.
• Place the braising pan in the oven and cook for no less than 5 hours (see Cook's Note).
• Remove the duck from the fat and gently pull the meat off of the bones.

CONFIT DUCK

Steps:

• The day before cooking, put the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan and toast until they are slightly coloured and aromatic. Remove to a board and crush them with the blade of a knife. Crush the juniper berries and mix with the spices and the salt. Rub the mixture over the duck, scatter with thyme, rosemary and sliced garlic and chill for 24 hrs, turning two or three times as they marinate.
• Next day, heat oven to 150C/130C fan/ gas 2. Wipe the duck with kitchen paper and pat dry, but don't wash off the marinade. (The salt extracts the water from the meat cells, which will be reinflated with fat as the duck cooks gently. If you wash it, you will simply reinflate the cells with water.)
• Put the duck in a cast-iron casserole and cover with the goose fat or duck fat. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns and cook for about 2½ hrs, or until the meat is almost falling away from the bone. You can store the duck very simply by placing it in a pudding bowl, covering it with the fat and keeping it in the fridge: as long as it stays covered with fat it will last for weeks.
• To cook, remove the confit duck legs from their fat. Put an ovenproof frying pan on the stove until it is hot. Add the duck legs, skin-side down, and cook for 4 mins. Turn the legs and transfer the pan to the oven for 30 mins, until crisp.

DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• Season the duck legs with kosher salt on both sides. Place them in a large resealable bag. Add the lemon zest and slices, garlic, allspice berries, juniper berries and fresh thyme. Seal, and massage the duck legs through the bag until all of the ingredients are evenly dispersed. Refrigerate for 24 hours to marinate.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (93 degrees C).
• Remove the duck legs from the marinade. Rinse them off and pat dry. Place the rest of the contents of the bag into the bottom of an oven safe dish just large enough to hold the legs in a single layer, preferably enameled cast iron or glass. Arrange the duck legs skin side down in the dish. Pour the duck fat into a small saucepan and warm over low heat until liquid. Pour over the duck legs until they are completely covered. If the legs are not covered, you can top it off with some olive oil. As the legs cook, more fat will be rendered from the skin. Cover the dish with a lid.
• Bake for 6 to 7 hours in the preheated oven, until the meat pulls easily from the bone. Remove the duck legs from the fat and place in a sealable container. You may leave the bones in or remove them. Make sure there is room at the top of the container. Strain all of the solids from the remaining fat and discard the solids. Pour the fat over the duck in the container, covering completely. Seal and allow to come to room temperature. Once the jar is cool, place in the refrigerator and let the duck meat cure for 2 months. Reserve any leftover duck fat for other uses.

CONFIT OF DUCK AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO OVER PASTA

Steps:

• Mix the 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper and garlic together and coat the duck with the seasonings rubbing into the surface of the duck. On the stovetop heat the oil or lard in a deep roasting pan (if you will be using the oven) or in a large Dutch oven (if you will be cooking on the range). (Note: you will be poaching the duck, not frying it, so, it is important to avoid making the oil too hot.) Add the duck to the warm oil. If you are using the oven put the duck in a preheated 200 degree F oven for about 6 to 8 hours. If you are using the stovetop, cook the duck at a 180 degree F simmer for 6 to 8 hours. The duck must be cooked until it falls away from the bone. Remove all the duck meat from the bones and reserve meat until needed.
• Fill a large pot with water, add salt and boil pasta until al dente, cooked with a bite, about 10 to 12 minutes, drain and set aside. While the pasta is boiling, saute garlic, onion, and sun-dried tomatoes until the onion is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and cook together for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, as needed.
• Shred the duck meat, combine with sauce and toss with pasta. Transfer to a serving dish and top with fresh chives and basil, sprinkle with Parmesan and drizzle with truffle oil, for garnish.

PASTA WITH CONFIT DUCK AND SAVOY CABBAGE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then sear duck legs, starting skin sides down and turning over once, until skin is golden and some of fat is rendered, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a cutting board, reserving skillet. When duck legs are cool enough to handle, remove skin and scrape off and reserve any visible fat, then cut skin into roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Return skin and fat to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and pressing down on larger pieces, until fat is rendered and cracklings are golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer cracklings with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• While cracklings cook, pull duck meat from legs into roughly 1/4-inch-thick strips, discarding bones and any gristle.
• Reserve 2 tablespoons fat in skillet, discarding remainder, then cook onions with 1/2 teaspoon salt over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Add cabbage and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring and turning occasionally with tongs, until cabbage is slightly wilted, about 5 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring, until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is very tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
• While cabbage simmers, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.
• Transfer cabbage mixture to pasta pot along with butter and shredded duck and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until butter is melted and duck is heated through. Stir in pasta, parsley, and pepper until combined. (If pasta looks dry, stir in some of cooking water.) Season with salt and serve cracklings on the side (for sprinkling over pasta).

DUCK CONFIT PASTA

Steps:

• remove the bones from the confit, chop the meat into bite-size pieces.
• cook the fettucine according to package directions, drain, set aside.
• heat olive oil and duck fat in a skillet.
• add garlic, and shallot, cook 2 minutes.
• add apricots, cook 1 minute.
• add hazelnuts and wine, cook over low heat, stirring until reduced by half.
• add stock and duck, reduce by half, 6-8 minutes.
• stir in butter, thyme and pepper.
• mix some sauce into the fettucine.
• spoon pasta onto 4 plates.
• top each with sauce and 1 tbsp chevre.
• serve.

ASIAN NOODLES WITH BARBECUED DUCK CONFIT

Steps:

• Soak noodles in cold water to cover 30 minutes.
• While noodles soak, stir together all glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Stir together all sauce ingredients in another small bowl.
• Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
• Blanch carrots in a small saucepan of boiling water 30 seconds, then transfer to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Return water to a boil and cook beans until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl with carrots.
• Bring a pasta pot of water to a boil.
• Meanwhile, put duck legs, skin sides up, on rack of a broiler pan, then pour 1 cup water into bottom of pan. Brush or spoon about half of glaze over skin side of duck. Roast duck until well browned, about 20 minutes.
• Turn on broiler. Brush duck with remaining glaze, then broil 3 to 4 inches from heat until skin is bubbling and lightly charred around edges, about 2 minutes more. Keep warm, covered.
• Drain noodles, then cook in boiling water 30 seconds. Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain noodles again.
• Add hot noodles, sauce, and scallions to carrots and beans and toss with tongs until well coated with sauce, adding some of reserved cooking liquid to moisten if necessary
• Add hot noodles, sauce, and scallions to carrots and beans and toss with tongs until well coated with sauce, adding some of reserved cooking liquid to moisten if necessary