Confit Of Duck

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Take the breasts, legs and thickest part of the wings off the duck
carcasses. Leave the skin on the pieces. Trim all loose fat from the
carcasses and put into a large deep pan with 300ml cold water. Heat
gently for 2-3 hours to render out all the duck fat. The water will
gradually evaporate off, leaving behind clear duck fat. Strain off  and
discard any sediment or bits of skin. You can of course use  bought
duck or goose fat (supermarkets and butchers sell it) but  since the
process takes no effort it seems silly to ignore what you  already
have.  Put the reserved duck pieces into a large dish and sprinkle over
the  salt, ground pepper, parsley and half the thyme.  Grind three of
the star anise and one cinnamon stick and add this to  the duck.  Cover
lightly and refrigerate until the next day. Keep turning the  duck
pieces in the brine.  Next day:  Set the oven to very cool (125C/gas
1).  Rinse and pat dry the duck pieces. Heat duck fat in a deep
saucepan to  about 170C. Add rest of aromatics and herbs. The fat
should cover the  pieces of meat. Reduce heat to barely simmer. Cook
for 40 minutes.  Remove duck pieces and place in a roasting tin. Cover
with the hot  fat. Cover and cook very slowly in a cool oven - 1 hour
for breasts,  11/2-2 hours for legs and other pieces. The duck should
be meltingly  tender, but with no sign of the meat shredding and the
fat should be  clear. Remove from oven and cool in the fat.  Store in a
deep dish in the refrigerator, totally submerged in the  fat. When
pouring off the fat, take care to leave the meaty sediment  behind.
(Any impurities left would prevent the duck being preserved
adequately). These juices are delicious. Don't throw them away, but
use them to add to a gravy or to pour over roast potatoes or parsnips.
To serve:  Remove the pieces of duck from the preserving fat. Put into
a  roasting tin and reheat in a very hot oven 220C/gas 7 for 12-15
minutes until the duck is very hot and the skin is beautifully crisp.
I like to serve this on a bed of crisp salad leaves with pieces of
apple and sweet pepper, a handful of freshly chopped chives and
dressed with a raspberry vinegar dressing.  Converted by MC_Buster.
Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
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Calories: 45
Calories From Fat: 5
Total Fat: <1g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 6988.9mg
Potassium: 235.7mg
Carbohydrates: 10.7g
Fiber: 3.8g
Sugar: <1g
Protein: 2g