Confit of Duck Sandwich

Posted by johngl

What is it about some of us that drive us to spend hours in the kitchen just to get a sandwich out of the deal a day later (other than impressing one’s most glorious mom-in-law)?

This particular quest was (mostly) driven by the fact that I had a frozen roasted duck that thawed the day my fridge died (is there a song in there somewhere?). Not one to enjoy wasting food, I couldn’t just toss it; it had only half-thawed by the time I (re)discovered it.

Inspired by facebook friend Daniel Notsayin’s suggestion of sous-vide-ing everything in the dead fridge, I decided to go old school.  While confit is not the same thing as sous-vide, the techniques are similar in that things are submerged in a hot fluid and cooked for many hours.

Ah, but the sandwich was merely the end result.  The quest…now that’s where the real action happens.

If you are reg’lar reader, you may recall the duck confit I have prepared in the past. If not, just follow along here and I’ll show you the basics.

Step 1.

Looking at this another way:

That is some primo pork back fat there folks. It almost made me giddy when I noticed the quality of it.  I gotta love the folks at “M.T.” in North Austin.  When I asked one of the butchers for pork fat, he didn’t even blink; he just asked “how much?”

I asked for five pounds.  I got 6.37.  At a buck a pound, I’m not fussy.

Step 2:

It’s pretty obvious what I did, so I’m not gonna waste my time ‘xplainin it.

Step 3:

Again, what is going on is pretty obvious.

Step 4:

Pay attention. It gets just a little trickier from here on out.

Pour a bit of water into a big pot and heat it to a boil. Dump in some of the ground pork fat.

Looks delicious, no? Okay, so forget about the looks.

Add pork fat, stir, add more pork fat, stir.  It’s not that difficult or time consuming.

Step 5.

Just get it up to about 200° and let the fat render out.  It takes a while: about 4 hours.

Be sure and stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

After a while, the liquid fat will have more volume than the solids.

When the remnants turn brown and sink to the bottom of the pot, you’ve rendered out all you’re gonna get. You may here some snapping and popping along the way. This is normal.

Step 6:

Just strain the fat through a fine mesh strainer.

My 6.37 pounds of pork fat yielded exactly 10 cups of rendered lard. I also got about two cups of cracklins, those crispy fat bits that will go wonderfully with some green beans (mixed with a little salt).  Most glorious mom-in-law also said they were great in cornbread.

Damn. I’ve gotta try that!

Step 7.

Fetch the roasted duck.

Step 8.

Submerge the roasted duck (this one is halved) into the strained lard.

Step 9.

Place in a 200° oven for two hours. Just let it be. Let. It. Be.

Step 10.

Allow it to cool — as not to roast one’s fingers — and remove the bones, skin, and other such pieces from the tender, flavorful flesh.

We’re almost home.

Step 11

Crisp up some of that duck skin.

Cut a few select pieces and pop them into the microwave for a minute or two until they get nice and crispy.

Step 12

Assemble your sandwich.

This is confit of duck, crispy skin, dill pickles, and cheese on an English muffin served along with low salt Ruffles Brand (surprisingly good!) Potato Chips.

Step 13.

Enjoy.

Oh, one more step.

Install new refrigeration unit.

It was a long way getting here, but savoring the sandwich this afternoon made the whole trip worth it.