Duck Confit pt. 2

Okay, so I took the salt/herb rubbed duck legs, rinsed them off and patted them dry. Heated up my duck fat until it liquidified and submerged the legs in the fat. This was a pain in the ass because I didn't have enough duck fat so I had to figure out which pan gave me the greatest height so I could submerge the duck legs as completely as possible. Even so, I haven't completely covered the 6th leg so I am afraid that it might dry out during the extended (6-12 hour) cooking period. The other thing that concerns me is that my duck legs were in the fridge for 48 hours instead of the cookbook recommended 24. Might they have taken on a little bit too much flavor from the cure? Who knows? This was necessary because I needed the duck fat cap on the duck stock to "set" before I could scoop it off and this took longer than anticipated.

Oh yah, oven is at 200 degrees...you wanna cook these duck legs very, very gently

We'll find out how it tastes later today...5 guests coming over tomorrow so I might use the 6th leg as a taster.

I am still set on serving the duck legs with a mixed green salad (prolly a sherry vinaigrette), some lentils aux vinaigrette (sherry vinegar, gonna mix in a bit of the duck fat as well...some minced carrot, fennel bulb and onion in there as well) and the duck stock is reducing down so I can make a nice duck jus. vin rouge, ldo...maybe something from the languedoc or the rhone valley. maybe, gigondas? if I am feeling ambitious, I'll run to cowgirl creamery down at the ferry market building to grab some cheese and baguettes...

edit: As the duck legs cooked, the fat on the thighs rendered out and total coverage is no longer a problem

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...

Simplify

I always encounter the "What to make" conundrum whenever I cook.This is a picture of my cookbook shelf...Keep in mind that I also keep a large stack of books in my bedroom. The issue is that whenever I want to cook, say, chicken, I can literally find 30 different recipes and then I'm obsessed with finding the best one. Instead, I think I'm going to just pick one book and cook EVERY recipe in it...simplify my decision making...

Very few updates lately because I have a big physics final tomorrow. It's gonna SUCKSUCKSUCK if ya know what I mean. I've been doing lots of studying but when you slack off all semester, it's hard to catch up in the last week unless you're super brainy.

Wish me luck!

Manresa

Manresa is a restaurant in Los Gatos, California.

It is, for my money, the best restaurant in the Bay Area. Even better than that *other* place.

I only bring this up because I am going next week...yes, yes...budget college cook? not when fine dining is concerned!

Here is the menu from my last meal at Manresa...yes, I keep and collect restaurant menus...I have them in both hard copy and electronic formats...I am a nerd:

Petit fours "red pepper-black olive"
Carrot and orange cocktail
Parmesan churros
Oyster and urchin jelly
Smelts with bacon and shiso
Fried brioche, butter and smelt roe
Arpege egg

Romanesque and foie gras royale
Fatty bluefin belly, kieffer lime, osetra caviar
Golden butterfish, our local yuzu fruit
Just shucked scallop with its tripe, black truffle
Monkfish, gooseneck barnacles and watercress (not an official menu description here...it was omitted from the menus we were given)
Abalone, kohlrabi choucroute
Foie gras, slowgrilled, then smoked, meyer lemon
Civet of rabbit, our boudin noir sauce
Venison saddle, red cabbage braised with dates

Ruby red grapefruit with hydromel
Belgian waffle, rum raisin pear, tonka bean ice cream
Chocolate cake steamed in a jar, licorice
Petit fours "strawberry-chocolate"