Duck Confit pt. 1

We had the reward dinner last night (Great Success!). George purchased whole ducks and removed the breasts so we had the leftover duck carcasses, duck legs and lots of other assorted parts.

Being a firm believer of throwing away as little as possible, I formulated a plan of attack that would allow us to take advantage of as much duck as possible:

Duck carcasses and other assorted bits. - Make duck stock.
Duck Legs- Confit!
Duck fat- Render down for confit.

What's confit, you ask? Read me. I love the stuff. I'm using the recipe from Bouchon. Thomas Keller, ftw.

Here's what I've been up to:

This is the giant tub of carcasses, duck legs, bits of fat and skin etc.

Sorting it out...pieces for stock, the legs and bits of fat for rendering.
Made some seasoning salt for the duck legs. Basically, two tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves, 1/4 cup of flat-leaf (aka Italian) parsley leaves, 1/2 cup of salt, 2 bay leaves and some fresh cracked black pepper...blend in a food processor...this is what you have:
Massage the salt into the duck legs...one tablespoon per duck leg.
Close-up:
Refrigerate the duck legs overnight.
Making duck stock...basically, heavily browned onions, carrots and a bit of celery, tomato paste, garlic cloves, lots of fresh thyme, black peppercorns, duck carcasses and water...simmer for as many hours as it takes...
Ignore the duck head if you're the squeamish type. Like my roommate. He especially hates it when i wave around the duck head and say things in a ducky voice. Quack quack.

I'll finish this up tomorrow...George's mom is coming over so I'm thinking some duck leg confit, skin nicely crisped, some lentils aux vinaigrette and some of the duck stock heavily reduced so it makes a nice glaze...we'll see what happens tho...