This recipe serves
4
Confit Duck Leg with Flageolet Beans
Photograph: Jean Cazals
Ingredients
| For the confit duck leg | ||
| 4 | - | Water |
| 30g | - | rock salt |
| 1 tbs | - | peppercorns, crushed |
| 4 | - | garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced |
| 2 | - | bay leaves, finely sliced |
| 4 | - | sprigs thyme, picked |
| 800g-1kg | - | duck or goose fat, melted |
| For the the flageolet beans | ||
| 250g | - | dried flageolet beans, soaked overnight in cold water |
| 1/2 | - | onion, peeled and finely sliced |
| 4 | - | cloves garlic, peeled and halved |
| 100g | - | diced lardons |
| 2 | - | bay leaves |
| 4 | - | sprigs thyme |
| 2 | - | cloves |
| 900ml | - | cold water |
| - | Salt & freshly ground black pepper | |
| 2tbs | - | extra virgin olive oil + more for serving |
| Small handful | - | flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped |
| 1 | - | clove garlic, finely minced |
Cook
- Lay the duck legs on a tray, flesh side upwards. Mix together the rock salt, crushed peppercorns, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Scatter this mixture over the meat, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 12 hours.
- The next day, rinse the duck legs and pat dry with kitchen paper. Place the legs skin side down in a casserole and pour over the melted duck or goose fat to cover. Place over a gentle heat until the barest bubble has broken the surface. Transfer the casserole to a 100°C oven for 3 hours.
- Whilst the duck legs are cooking, mix together the beans, onion, 4 cloves garlic, lardons, bay leaves, thyme, clove and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the beans are soft (approximately 1 hour, although this could take longer - how quickly your beans cook depends on many factors including how old they are). Once tender, remove the cloves, bay leaves and thyme stalks, taste for seasoning then add the olive oil, parsley and minced garlic. Cover and set aside.
- To serve, remove the duck legs from the fat (reserve this for future batches of confit or use to roast/sauté potatoes). Heat a large frying pan and crisp the legs, skin side down, until golden. Spoon some of the beans into a shallow bowl and top with the crispy duck leg. Drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil.
Equipment required
- No equipment required
