Duck confit

Method

• step 1

  Put the duck legs in a dish flesh-side up. Mix all the cure ingredients together.

• step 2

  Sprinkle the cure evenly over the flesh then cover with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight. The next day, heat the oven to 140C/120C/gas 1. Take the legs from the cure, rinse under cold running water and pat dry with kitchen paper.

• step 3

  Put skin-side up in a baking dish or tin that they fit quite snugly and tuck the thyme and garlic under and around the legs.

• step 4

  Gently heat the duck fat until pourable (you can do this in the container on low in a microwave, or sit the container in a small pan of hot water) and pour over the duck.

• step 5

  Cover the dish tightly with foil then put in the oven and cook for 3 hours.

• step 6

  Take the duck from the oven and allow the fat to cool a little.

• step 7

  Lift the duck legs carefully out of the fat. You can finish the duck off in the oven now or store it and cook it later (following step 8, below).

• step 8

  Strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve. Leave the fat to settle then pour the fat away from any duck juices. Put the legs into a clean container and pour over the strained fat to cover. The covered duck can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for 2 months.

• step 9

  When you want to eat the duck, heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Scrape off the excess fat if you’ve been storing the confit, put the duck on a roasting tray skin-side up, and cook for about 30 minutes until golden and crisp (you will need to add 5-10 minutes if cooking from chilled).