This is not the confit duck of French tradition, where the legs sit in duck fat as a preserving method.

This is a lighter version that still gives a tender duck with crispy skin, but with less salt and a little less fat. In the four major UK supermarkets, the fat costs more per kilo than the legs!

To each duck leg add:

3gm (about ½ tsp) of good salt – preferably a coarse salt without additives
0.5gm (about ¼ tsp) Coarse ground black pepper
1 Garlic clove (chopped)
Fresh thyme leaves (see picture)

Salt the legs overnight with the above.

After marinating the duck overnight, rinse it and place it into a casserole dish that it will fit into snugly. This method has the duck cooking in its own fat, so a snug fit is essential. Put a cartouche over the duck and then foil over the casserole before putting the lid on. We want it sealed in there nice and tight.

Place the casserole in an oven at 110°C/230°F, gas mark ¼ and cook it for about 4 hours; it is cooked when the meat is fall-apart tender. Probe it with a skewer to check; if the skewer goes into the meat with little or no resistance, it’s cooked.

Freezing is the best way to keep it. I cool the duck, then vacuum-pack individual legs and freeze them. It should keep for a couple of months in the freezer, even without vacuum-packing.

To use it, thaw it and place it on a baking sheet in a hot oven (200°C/400°F, gas mark 6) for 15 to 20 minutes, until the skin is crisp. You can also reheat it in a frying pan, skin side down, in a little duck fat or oil – I don’t, because it spits and makes a right mess of the hob!

If you eat a lot of duck, you’ll probably have fat without the need to buy it. In that case, you can cook this recipe the traditional way: submerged in fat, like this one that I made back in 2012.

I’d still store it by freezing. If you want it to keep longer-term without freezing, you’ll need to add significantly more salt and cure it for longer before cooking.

Other poultry recipes:

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