Duck Confit, Part 2

• 6 duck legs (about 3 pounds) salted and spiced, cured in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours (see previous post.)  36 hours is about the maximum, otherwise it will become too salty.
• 1.75 pounds Duck Fat

Remove the curing legs from the refrigerator and drain the pink liquid that will have collected in the bottom of your dish.  Using a few paper towels, dry the legs and garlic cloves very thoroughly and place back into the dish--but wash it out first.  In the meantime, preheat your oven to 275 degrees. They should fit snugly, otherwise the fat will spread out too much and won't cover them.  If you have a deeper dish you could stack them, but no more than two on top of eachother.  This might work well in a small dutch oven.  Place the duck fat into a saucepan and, over low heat, render (melt) it until clear. Once the fat is completely rendered, pour it over your legs, making sure they're covered.  Taking the cue from Anthony Bourdain's recipe (this confit recipe has been following Madeleine Kamman but I'm incorporating other ideas), I stuck 4 sprigs of fresh thyme and 1 of fresh rosemary around the legs. This recipe has the legs cooking at 275 for 2 or 2 1/2 hours.  Bourdain has it at 375 for an hour (he covers it in tin foil) and Thomas Keller, Mr. Absurdly Over-the-Top, suggests 190 degrees for ten hours.  That's like taking the dish to Arizona and hanging around for a couple days.  Most ovens have a minimum of 250--you could do it over low heat on the stove, but I figured the 2 hour method would be sufficiently authentic.  So don't cover it, slide it into the oven, and cook it for 2 hours.  The legs are doing something between braising and deep frying, I guess.  Watch the garlic cloves, which are a nice measure of the progress--when they're a rich, deep brown, you're done.  Don't let them burn. Let the dish cool for awhile on the countertop--mine was bubbling furiously when it came out.  Once it's cooled enough to handle, using a combination of tongs and hands, twist out the smaller of the two bones--not the one that sticks out like a drumstick.  Be fragile, because it's delicate.  This is a good chance to sample a piece of meat.  You will be absolutely blow away.  But I imagine you could put a piece of rubber into that fat with garlic and herbs, and all would be swell. I put two legs in a smaller dish to store long term (this thing will last in the back of the fridge for months--the flavor keeps developing) and kept four for the upcoming cassoulet.  If you're going to save it in the fridge for a long time, make sure a layer of fat above the legs is at least an inch, preferably more.  But you should do some research about this, because you have to make sure there aren't meat juices in there (they collect on the bottom of the dish when you're cooking it), which can spoil.  If you don't want to worry about that, just make sure you eat it in the next month or so. To store, let the whole thing cool to room temperature, then cover it with plastic wrap, pressing it all the way up to the top of the fat so there's a minimal amount of air.  If you want, you can use a jar instead, but be careful because the meat is fragile.  Cover it with foil (you want the meat to enjoy a nice dark environment) and put in the back of the fridge. When you want to use it, which I'll write about in a couple weeks, you apparently pull it out, let it come to room temperature, pull it out of the fat, scrape off the excess, and crisp the skin up in a nonstick skillet (skin-side down) or under a broiler.  The crispy skin is the triumph of duck confit.  But I'll experiment with all that sometime later.  For now, it's time to use that roll of pig skin I just bought for the cassoulet.  Check back tomorrow!