you’re a fan of the comedy ‘Friends,’ you might remember an episode where Monica couldn’t come up with a recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies and stopped trying. She said: “I guess I’m not going to be the mom who makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. I make the best duck confit with broccoli rabe. Kids love that, right?” I don’t know about children, but we (only about adults) really know. We make the best Slow Cooker Duck Confit with cherry sauce and serve it with broccoli with tender stem “rabe”.
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What isConfit?
Duck confit may sound like a complicated dish, but it’s about time and patience, rather than complex methods. If you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘low and slow’, it’s definitely applicable to the duck leg candied. Traditionally made by dipping duck legs in olive oil and cooking in the oven at about 120°C for about 4 hours, we opted to confit our duck legs in a slow cooker (we have a 3.5l Morphy Richards slow cooker that’s enough to cook for 2 of us!).
Simply put, confit is a food preservation technique, whereby ingredients are preserved by dipping and cooking ingredients in fat. While duck confit is one of the most popular dishes, other meats, vegetables, and even fruits can be preserved this way. Three important elements of the candied process are
:
- Salt Cure
- fat
- Slow cooking Read
more about Confit, here.
Step by step recipe: How to make duck legs candied in a slow cooker?
Prepare duck paws
for cooking candied style:
prick the skin of duck legs with a fork or cocktail stick / toothpick all over. This will ensure that the fat under the skin can escape while cooking and make the duckskin crunchy.
Season the legs with coarse salt (we use sea salt) and pepper. If you are looking to keep duck legs candied, cover them and let them cure in salt for 7-8 hours in the fridge. If you are going to eat the duck confit within a few days, you can cure it for an hour or two.
“Low and slow” cooking of duck legs in a slow cooker
(clay pot): Place the duck legs in your slow cooker
, skin facing up. Pour the olive oil over them, and add the sprigs of garlic and rosemary. Cover and simmer for 6 hours.
After 6 hours, remove the duck legs from the slow cooker to a baking sheet. Be very smooth, the meat will slide out of the bone at this point and you want to keep your legs intact.
<img src="https://somebodyfeedseb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022.02.09-Duck-confit-with-broccoli-rabe-6214.jpg" alt="Duck legs in olive oil in a
.” />
If you’re looking to preserve candied duck legs for later eating, place the cooked paws in a single layer in an airtight container, pour all the grease from the slow cooker over them, making sure the legs are completely submerged (you may need some extra oil/grease if there isn’t enough). Once the duck and fat have cooled to room temperature, cover and keep in the fridge for up to 2 months.***
If you want to eat it in the day, preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Place the candied duck legs in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the skin crunches.
What to serve with
duck confit?
Some of our favorite things to serve with Confit Duck Leg are:
Tenderstem Broccoli ‘Rabe’)Cut tenderstem broccoli
into
4-5 cm pieces and place them in a large pan. Pour boiling water into the pan over the broccoli and bring to a quick boil. Cook for 1 minute, then drain in a strainer. Your broccoli should soften but still retain most of its crunch.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the thinly sliced garlic and a pinch of chili flakes. Cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli, season with salt and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Squeeze half a lemon over the broccoli ‘rabe’ and serve along with the candied duck legs. You can find our complete recipe for Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon here.
Easy
tart cherry sauce Our tart cherry sauce recipe
uses frozen cherries and balsamic vinegar, so it’s an alcohol-free sauce that you can make even when you don’t have any fancy wine at home. The duck confit with cherry sauce is our favorite match!
Crushed
potatoes
While we love any type of potato side dish with duck confit, we think crushed potatoes work best. And here’s why! Duck confit is a meat-rich dish, so creamy mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes can be “too much” for some “diet-conscious” people (NOT us!). Our crushed potatoes are simple, easy to make, and low in fat, making them a perfect accompaniment to duck candied!
Recipe FAQs
: Other French
Recipes For other quintessential French recipes, take a look at some of our personal favorites below:
- Flambéed cake with bacon and asparagus
- Individual elderflower cakes Fraisier Sourdough
