Duck con-feat.

Living by myself, I find that some dishes aren't quite worth the effort to cook for one (as delicious as leftovers may be). Fortunately, the occasional dinner party or trip home to the family can provide opportunities for just those dishes. On my little jaunt across the country last month, my family celebrated my dad's birthday with a "restaurant-style," four-course tasting menu that included a dish I've been wanting to try for ages: duck confit.

Duck is intimidating for a few reasons:

1. The bird is expensive.
2. The bird is heavier, bigger, and generally unwieldier to manage when raw, so cutting it up presents much more of a challenge than chicken.
3. Most recipes involving duck are prep/cooking/and clean-up intensive.

Of course, in my mom's huge kitchen with a plentiful herb garden, All-Clad stainless steel, and a Viking stove that puts out more BTUs in five minutes than mine will in a month, I'm inspired to take on almost any cooking challenge. It helps to have a table of willing guinea pigs (they say you should never test out a new recipe on guests, but perhaps family is okay).

For the birthday dinner, we did the duck two ways: a roasted duck breast with a sour-cherry, Cabernet Sauvignon reduction, and duck confit. Duck confit's intimidation factor is upped significantly for a few more reasons:

1. You need a mountain of duck fat - that's what makes the dish so rich and flavorful.
2. The total prep time (including seasoning with fat and herbs) is more than 24 hr.
3. You need a dutch oven (I'm still getting used to what different heat levels you need for enameled cast iron, and it's SO HEAVY to wash).

But at the end of the day, the gorgeous sight of bubbling fat and meat melting off the bones -- paired with yummy noises from my family members -- told me it was all worth it.

~

Duck Confit
Adapted from Anne Burrell and Emeril Lagasse

4 fatty duck leg portions with thighs attached, (about 2 lb.) excess fat trimmed and reserved

1 T Kosher salt

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

10 garlic cloves
4 sprigs thyme

olive oil

4 large onions, sliced

1 bottle white wine (well, 2/3 bottle goes into the dish...the rest is for the chef)

1 bundle thyme 10 bay leaves

Lay trimmed fat in the bottom of a glass dish. Season fat with Kosher salt and pepper, and place garlic cloves and thyme in the dish. Lay leg portions, skin-side up, on top of the seasoned fat, creating somewhat of a fat-and-garlic sandwich. Massage the ingredients together. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, heat olive oil in a large dutch oven. Cook the duck legs skin-side down over low heat to render the fat. This process will take 20-30 minutes, but don't rush it. Once the pan is full of fat, turn up the heat and brown the duck legs on both sides. They may not actually brown, but they'll get nice and crisp-looking.

Preheat the oven to 400*F.

Once the legs have rendered and are brown, remove from the pan and reserve. Add onions and season with salt. Caramelize onions over medium heat, 15 min. with the lid on, then 15. min with the lid off. Return the duck legs to the pan and add wine, thyme, and bay leaves.

Cover the dutch oven and place in the preheated oven. Braise the duck in the oven for about 90 minutes. Stir the onions and turn the duck every 30 minutes to be sure that the onions are not burning. When the meat is falling off the bone, it's duck. I mean, done.