confit duck legs

We raise muscovy ducks for meat. They're fabulously bred because they're calm and quiet. They have a voracious appetite for snails, slugs, waste fruit and greenery (especially brassica).


About one month ago, we killed our third batch of ducks - the autumn hatchlings. Killing 7 in one day is a big undertaking psychologically and physically but once we get into that frame of mind it's worth staying there and getting the job done.
We hardly ever eat the ducks whole because the breasts require much less cooking that the rest. So, breasts, legs, wings and backs are separated and frozen.
Recently I made this dish of rare and crispy skinned duck breast, sausage made from the leg meat, sugarloaf cabbage braised in homemade hard apple cider and crispy parsnip cake.


One thing we like doing with the legs is to make confit. I have twice followed this recipe and it works really well.


Here's a meal made with confit duck leg, panfried duck livers, crispy potatoes, baked baby fennels and braised savoy cabbage. Yum!


The other day, I melted the fat and pulled out 3 confit legs which I then pan fried until the skin was crispy. I pulled the meat - it was deliciously tender - off the bones and served it with silverbeet (swiss chard) and leeks wilted with a little of the confit fat then dressed with a few drops of apple cider vinegar and a big dollop of creamy mashed Kennebec potatoes. Yum!