Duck confit, originally invented as a method of preserving meat, just happens to have the added bonus of being one of the most delicious things on earth. Like a lot of other old school cooking techniques, confiting can sometimes feel intimidating to do at home on account of the fancy French name, and the fact that cooking duck in its own fat sounds a little complicated. Time consuming, yes. Complicated, no.
Making duck confit at home is great for a couple of reasons: 1) it's a kitchen project that demands you slow down and enjoy the process, which you guys already know we are big fans of. 2) It uses parts of the duck that you might not use otherwise, like the legs and the fat. 3) It's really fun to invite your friends over for homemade duck confit. Once you get this confit recipe down, you'll realize that you can actually confit anything. We love to confit garlic in olive oil (which leaves you with soft, delicious garlic and garlic-infused olive oil), cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, fish -- if fat is flavor, to confit is to make something flavorful.
Check out Gourmet's characteristically excellent instruction video below.
We have to admit that while we knew confiting would preserve the duck, we had no idea for just how long. Do a batch now and eat duck confit all autumn long!
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