Sara Levine's Duck Rillettes

Our next recipe reviewer, Lynn at Spoon & Fork, sacrificed herself for the sake of the duck rillettes from the chef at Vertical Wine Bistro in LA. And I, for one, am quite glad she did.

"So my fiance and I are plopped on the couch in a duck fat-induced food coma.

Wow.

The duck rillettes were pretty fabulous. We ate them on top of toasted baguette slices, along with a salade nicoise. The spread turned out really creamy and delicious. The flavor was terrific, although we were just the tiniest bit bummed that the Dijon mustard flavor was so strong, because we felt like we didn't taste as much of the duck as we'd like. Next time I might tone that down a bit.

And there definitely will be a next time: our food-loving and Francophile friends would love these as a pre-dinner snack with a glass of wine or Champagne. It's a lovely dish for entertaining. A little decadent for a regular Sunday dinner, but hey, this was an assignment! The recipe was easy to follow.

Finding duck legs that weren't confit, on the other hand, was a little tougher. After a, uh, wild duck chase (ha) I eventually found them at Todaro's on 2nd Avenue and 30th Street. They were from Long Island. Meanwhile, the man at the meat counter at Garden of Eden on 23rd Street went in the back of the store and filled up a container of duck fat for me.

 The procedure was simple. You rub the duck with herbs and spices (the recipe was a little unclear about some things; for instance should the parsley be chopped or left in whole leaves? I left it whole. Is the mint dried? I figured yes). You refrigerate it, loosely covered, overnight. Some fat drains out during that time. You sear the duck in a dutch oven, add veggies, then wine, and let it reduce. It goes into a very low oven with chicken stock for about 3 hours, and then you set to work emulsifying the meat with melted duck fat and mustard. At that point, though, the consistency isn't quite right for spreading on bread--too gooey. I put the rillettes in three small custard cups, and after about 20 minutes in the refrigerator they were ready. 

I definitely recommend this for a dinner party. You'll get about 45 servings from the whole recipe. I'm freezing one cup--will let you know how that turns out."

Okay, duck rillettes are all fine and well, but what's this about the butcher at Garden of Eden filling up containers with duck fat? Somehow I'm stuck on that alluring detail.

Oh, also, Lynn - what did you do with that miraculous-sounding braising liquid (Step 3)? I'm having visions of some kind of stewy soup of rice and asparagus built off that base of braising liquid and let me tell you: the meal of roasted asparagus and scrambled eggs with ramps that I've been looking forward to all day suddenly seems a whole lot less interesting now.

Duck Rillettes
Makes about 2 cups

2 duck legs
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 small bay leaf, broken
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon mint
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 white onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cups white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup duck fat
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1. Place the duck legs on a rack on a baking sheet and rub them with the salt, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, peppercorns, coriander, mint and sugar. Cover loosely with a sheet of parchment paper and allow to cure for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

2. Heat the oven to 250 degrees. In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, sear the duck legs in one tablespoon of canola oil over medium-high heat until you get a bit of color, about 2 minutes. Add the onion and carrot and sauté until softened, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the white wine and reduce by half, about half an hour.

3. Add the chicken stock and braise the duck legs in the oven, covered, until the meat is tender and falling off the bone, about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. (If it begins to bubble, turn down the heat.) Allow the meat to cool, then remove from the braising liquid; the braising liquid can be reserved for another use such as for a soup base.

4. Remove the meat from the bone and place it in a bowl. Place the bowl of duck meat on top of a bowl of ice.

5. In a small pan, heat the duck fat over medium-low heat until it's melted. Slowly pour the duck fat over the duck meat, using a fork to emulsify the duck meat with the duck fat until fluffy and smooth. Add the Dijon mustard and adjust seasoning to taste. Transfer to a serving dish or container; the restaurant serves rillettes in a French canning jar.

Comments

[Victoria]

I always find duck legs at Fairway. The one I go to is the uptown one at 131st Street and Twelfth Avenue. When I get the duck legs home, I unwrap them, salt them a little, and put them upside down on a rack and then put the rack on a plate (or platter depending on how many there are). I refrigerate the duck legs overnight. In the morning, I flip them over right side up, and leave them in the fridge until I am going to cook them. Obviously, you can take them out of the fridge and get them to room temp before you cook them, but I don't always think about it, and it doesn't seem to really matter. Then I bake them in a roasting pan in a hot oven until they are really crispy. I just check occasionally to see how they are doing. These are really good - but the other good thing is you can strain the fat (obviously let it cool enough so you can handle it safely but not enough for it to solidify) through a sieve and refrigerate it. Voila. Wonderful duck legs for dinner and wonderful duck fat in the fridge. I basically do the same thing with chicken legs - and chicken fat is great too. Just try crispy roast chicken legs (or a rotiserried chicken) with green beans that you toss in a little duck fat and sprinkle Maldon salt on top. The best.

[jennie]

another way to easily get 2 duck legs and a cup of duck fat at any butcher? buy a whole duck.

[Lindy]

I have been discovering lately just how much a person can do with one whole duck. Especially if you can cop a little extra duck fat somewhere, to get a bit of confit off to a good start.But you can substitute a little olive oil if the rendered fat from your duck is a bit short.

And then you get a confit of legs and wings, a whole bunch of duck fat around the confit, which can be strained and used for more goodies, 2 breasts to make a fancy dinner with, plus the denuded carcass for the best broth ever, and even a bit of delicious aspic. A whole duck is definitely a best buy when a person is in the mood for pottering.

And you don't have to do it all at once, once you've, uh, disassembled the duck, you can freeze the various parts.

[izzy's mama]

A great source for duck legs (non-confit) is Ottomanelli's on Bleecker near 7th Avenue. Every time I walk buy they call me. Now I have a reason to buy some. I crave good duck rillettes which used to be sold by D'Artagnan but are no longer available.

[Mary Coleman]

oh.my.God.
i can't decide whether i'm more worked up over the rillettes or the fact that there is not a place where i live where someone would fill up a container of duck fat for me.

[Lynn]

Hi Luisa! Excellent question about the braising liquid. The recipe suggests saving it and doing exactly what you said--building a terrific soup using the stock as a base. I put it in the freezer and definitely plan on putting it to good use. As for that duck fat--I have no idea where this man got it! He went into the back of the store, came out with a container, and slapped a price tag on it. Since G of E sells duck confit, I'm guessing that's where it came from... but he didn't say for sure.

[bc]

A great source for fresh duck legs is the Deluxe Food Market in Chinatown, there's an entrance on Elizabeth and one on Mott. They're cheap and very fresh. You can also get a plate of just duck tongues there too. If you have any ideas for these, please post.