ā¹ļø Skipped - page is already crawled
| Filter | Status | Condition | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTTP status | PASS | download_http_code = 200 | HTTP 200 |
| Age cutoff | PASS | download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH | 0.1 months ago |
| History drop | PASS | isNull(history_drop_reason) | No drop reason |
| Spam/ban | PASS | fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0 | ml_spam_score=0 |
| Canonical | PASS | meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed | Not set |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| URL | https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/ |
| Last Crawled | 2026-04-08 11:48:26 (1 day ago) |
| First Indexed | 2019-07-17 11:36:41 (6 years ago) |
| HTTP Status Code | 200 |
| Meta Title | Creamy Duck Rillette - |
| Meta Description | null |
| Meta Canonical | null |
| Boilerpipe Text | The other night during my thrill-less routine of midnight internet-surfing, I came across an article about the mysterious effect of mind has on physical wellness. Ā You know, happy people healthy life kind of thing. Ā (By the way Hello, my name is Mandy and Iām a hypochondriac. Ā Those who are just here thinking thereād be ābetter-than-Parisā duck, feel free to skip and scroll right to the bottomā¦). Ā So volunteers were gathered and tests were conducted. Ā In a nut shell, I was diagnosed by the article as the kind who are biologically doomed, incapable of being happy under meditation and will be a sag of meat dripping negativity for the rest of my life, which as far as effect-of-mind-on-health goes isnāt gonna be a long one. Ā Itās settled.Ā I will live short, and whimper.
Life is amazing⦠as the window of hope for longevity closes, it opens another (maybe Iām not a pessimist after all). Ā You know as they say ā short life āĀ enjoy the moment Ā āĀ therefore indulge in creamy ducks. Ā Wait, that sounds wrong. Ā You wouldnāt normally put the word ācreamyā and āduckā together, would you? Ā I mean itās weird, sounds absurd. Ā Like itād put a cork in your artery (it may be correct on that note). Ā But believe it or not,Ā ācreamyā and āduckā Ā is possible. Ā More accurately, creamy meat. Ā I discovered something called ārilletteā from Thomas Keller shortly after myĀ
rude awakening
Ā last September, which is a genius creation from a little Far-far-away named France (great foods⦠chic people, canāt believe nobody knows about itā¦). Ā Itās one of those āDUH!ā culinary moment for me. Ā Meat is confit-ed as in cooked in its own fat, moisture extracted and replaced with more fat, until rendered down into a purity of concentrated and compact meatiness, THEN whipped into a creamy paste in.. yes, its own fat. Ā Just the sheer number of āfatā mentioned is enough to give a vegetarian heart attack.
Goes without saying that creamy duck can and should be anything BUT indulged in large quantity.Ā But since I had an emptiness to fill, I experienced with an unhealthy number of rillettes in the following month. Ā There was the Spanish-paprika-pork version⦠then the Southeast-Asia-lemongrass-chicken version, and then this duck version flavored with fresh peppercorns. Ā Believe me when I say itās better than what we had in
Paris
. Ā For the entire October, I used it to fill my grief and the hollowness inside which leads me to a discovery āĀ grief and calories are recipe for a larger pants-size. Ā A whole year later, the remnant of that monthās recklessness and my waist-line has still yet to part. Ā This recipe will produce approx 4 cups of rillette which fills 2 medium-size jars. Ā I suggest making the second jar an excellent holiday gift because itās dangerously⦠or donāt. Ā Because lifeās too short.
* I couldnāt find fresh bay leaves here so I didnāt include it.
** To extract duck fat, cut duck skins into small pieces and fry in a pot without any other added oil. Ā Fry until the skins shrink and give out all its fat.
*** If fresh green peppercorn isnāt available, I suspect that it could be substituted with 2 tbsp of dry green peppercorn. Ā Though I havenāt tried it before.
Ingredients:
inspired and adapted from Thomas Keller
4 Peking duck legs
6 tbsp of coarse sea salt
2 fresh bay leaves *
1 1/2 tbsp of fresh green peppercorn ***
5 sprigs of thyme
4 cloves of garlic
3~4 cups of duck fat ** (or a combination of duck fat and olive oil)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
2 tsp of ground white pepper (Itās important to use WHITE pepper in this recipe. Ā Donāt replace it with black pepper itās completely different)
1 turn of ground black pepper
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp of duck fat
To confit the duck legs. Ā Pulse coarse sea salt and fresh bay leaves in the food processor until blended together as āgreen saltā. Ā Wash the duck legs and pat dry. Ā Rub the green salt all over the duck legs and make sure every surface is covered. Ā Lay them flat and separated on a tray and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Preheat the oven on 300ĀŗF/150ĀŗC.
After marinated and sort of ācuredā, you could discard the liquid that was drawn out of the duck legs andĀ wash them under water to rinse out all the salt. Ā Pat them VERY dry with a clean towel, and place them in a deep and narrow pot thatās just big enough to hold the duck legs in diameter. Ā The more tightly you pack the legs and the less empty space left in between them and the pot, the less oil youāll need to have them submerged. Ā Scatter the peppercorns, thyme and garlic into the pot. Ā Pour in the duck fat (if you donāt have enough duck fat, you could substitute partially with olive oil) until all the ingredients are submerged by at least 1/2ā³ or 2 cm.
Put the lid on, and bake in the oven for 3~4 hours until the meat has completely pulled away from the knuckle, and a fork can be easily inserted without any effort. Ā Take the pot out and let it cool down to room temperature. Ā Carefully remove the legs without breaking it, then strain the fat through a sieve into another container. Ā Many recipe would tell you to leave the the duck legs in the fat and refrigerate it. Ā But I find it very difficult to separate the duck legs from the cold fat so hereās what I do. Ā I wrap the duck legs very tightly with plastic wraps to prevent drying-out, then refrigerate the legs and fat separately.
The reason for refrigeration is because itās better to work with chilled/cold fat in rillettes for a creamier texture.
Once the legs and fat are chilled, remove the meat and skin from the legs and discard all the bones. Ā Set the meat in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Ā roughly cut the meat into shorter pieces with a scissor (I find the muscle tissue in duck leg to be quite stringy. Ā Roughly cutting it produces better texture in the rillette). Ā Add 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard, ground white pepper and 1 turn of freshly ground black pepper. Ā With the machine mixing on medium-high speed, SLOWLY SLOWLY start adding in 3/4 cup of duck fat. Ā Do this 1 tsp at a time in the beginning and increase the amount after mid-way. Ā The mustard and the fat has to form a beautiful emulsion. Ā If the emulsion breaks, the rillette will taste greasy instead of creamy.
Once 3/4 cup of duck fat is completely incorporated, I stop the machine and taste-test it. Ā In this case the duck legs are slightly larger than usual, so I ended up adding 2 tbsp more of mustard and duck fat. Ā The mark is that the rillette should be soft and moist, not dry and craggy.
Transfer the rillette into air-tight containers. Ā Try not to include too much air pockets. Ā Pour a thin layer of duck fat on top to seal itĀ (in this case it has to be pure duck fat otherwise it wouldnāt solidify)Ā and refrigerate it for at least 1 day. Ā Keep the rest of the duck fat for next confit (some liquid usually comes out of the duck during cooking which should be āgello-edā once chilled, and thus easy to separate from the fat).
Serve on warm, toasted breads with a couple drops of extra virgin. Ā Dangerously snackable.
SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW RECIPE NOTICES: |
| Markdown | [](https://ladyandpups.com/)
- [ABOUT](https://ladyandpups.com/about-us/)
- [CONTACT US](https://ladyandpups.com/contact-us/)
- [COOKBOOK](https://ladyandpups.com/to-order-our-cookbook/)
- [NEWSLETTER](https://ladyandpups.com/subscribe-confirm/)
- - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ladyandpups/)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@MandyLeeLadyandpups)
### Creamy Duck Rillette
December 13, 2012
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/duck-rillette-featured-header-e1355381338582.png)
The other night during my thrill-less routine of midnight internet-surfing, I came across an article about the mysterious effect of mind has on physical wellness. You know, happy people healthy life kind of thing. (By the way Hello, my name is Mandy and Iām a hypochondriac. Those who are just here thinking thereād be ābetter-than-Parisā duck, feel free to skip and scroll right to the bottomā¦). So volunteers were gathered and tests were conducted. In a nut shell, I was diagnosed by the article as the kind who are biologically doomed, incapable of being happy under meditation and will be a sag of meat dripping negativity for the rest of my life, which as far as effect-of-mind-on-health goes isnāt gonna be a long one. Itās settled. I will live short, and whimper.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-3.jpg)
Life is amazing⦠as the window of hope for longevity closes, it opens another (maybe Iām not a pessimist after all). You know as they say ā short life ā enjoy the moment ā therefore indulge in creamy ducks. Wait, that sounds wrong. You wouldnāt normally put the word ācreamyā and āduckā together, would you? I mean itās weird, sounds absurd. Like itād put a cork in your artery (it may be correct on that note). But believe it or not, ācreamyā and āduckā is possible. More accurately, creamy meat. I discovered something called ārilletteā from Thomas Keller shortly after my [rude awakening](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/2012/05/26/the-perfect-o-eng/ "The Perfect O å®ē¾ēé¶") last September, which is a genius creation from a little Far-far-away named France (great foods⦠chic people, canāt believe nobody knows about itā¦). Itās one of those āDUH!ā culinary moment for me. Meat is confit-ed as in cooked in its own fat, moisture extracted and replaced with more fat, until rendered down into a purity of concentrated and compact meatiness, THEN whipped into a creamy paste in.. yes, its own fat. Just the sheer number of āfatā mentioned is enough to give a vegetarian heart attack.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-2.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-10.jpg)
Goes without saying that creamy duck can and should be anything BUT indulged in large quantity. But since I had an emptiness to fill, I experienced with an unhealthy number of rillettes in the following month. There was the Spanish-paprika-pork version⦠then the Southeast-Asia-lemongrass-chicken version, and then this duck version flavored with fresh peppercorns. Believe me when I say itās better than what we had in [Paris](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/2012/05/05/paris-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/ "Paris, Where Have You Been All My Life?"). For the entire October, I used it to fill my grief and the hollowness inside which leads me to a discovery ā grief and calories are recipe for a larger pants-size. A whole year later, the remnant of that monthās recklessness and my waist-line has still yet to part. This recipe will produce approx 4 cups of rillette which fills 2 medium-size jars. I suggest making the second jar an excellent holiday gift because itās dangerously⦠or donāt. Because lifeās too short.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-111.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-9.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-13.jpg)
\* I couldnāt find fresh bay leaves here so I didnāt include it.
\*\* To extract duck fat, cut duck skins into small pieces and fry in a pot without any other added oil. Fry until the skins shrink and give out all its fat.
\*\*\* If fresh green peppercorn isnāt available, I suspect that it could be substituted with 2 tbsp of dry green peppercorn. Though I havenāt tried it before.
**Ingredients:** inspired and adapted from Thomas Keller
- 4 Peking duck legs
- 6 tbsp of coarse sea salt
- 2 fresh bay leaves \*
- 1 1/2 tbsp of fresh green peppercorn \*\*\*
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3~4 cups of duck fat \*\* (or a combination of duck fat and olive oil)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp of ground white pepper (Itās important to use WHITE pepper in this recipe. Donāt replace it with black pepper itās completely different)
- 1 turn of ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp of duck fat
To confit the duck legs. Pulse coarse sea salt and fresh bay leaves in the food processor until blended together as āgreen saltā. Wash the duck legs and pat dry. Rub the green salt all over the duck legs and make sure every surface is covered. Lay them flat and separated on a tray and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Preheat the oven on 300ĀŗF/150ĀŗC.
After marinated and sort of ācuredā, you could discard the liquid that was drawn out of the duck legs and wash them under water to rinse out all the salt. Pat them VERY dry with a clean towel, and place them in a deep and narrow pot thatās just big enough to hold the duck legs in diameter. The more tightly you pack the legs and the less empty space left in between them and the pot, the less oil youāll need to have them submerged. Scatter the peppercorns, thyme and garlic into the pot. Pour in the duck fat (if you donāt have enough duck fat, you could substitute partially with olive oil) until all the ingredients are submerged by at least 1/2ā³ or 2 cm.
Put the lid on, and bake in the oven for 3~4 hours until the meat has completely pulled away from the knuckle, and a fork can be easily inserted without any effort. Take the pot out and let it cool down to room temperature. Carefully remove the legs without breaking it, then strain the fat through a sieve into another container. Many recipe would tell you to leave the the duck legs in the fat and refrigerate it. But I find it very difficult to separate the duck legs from the cold fat so hereās what I do. I wrap the duck legs very tightly with plastic wraps to prevent drying-out, then refrigerate the legs and fat separately.
The reason for refrigeration is because itās better to work with chilled/cold fat in rillettes for a creamier texture.
Once the legs and fat are chilled, remove the meat and skin from the legs and discard all the bones. Set the meat in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. roughly cut the meat into shorter pieces with a scissor (I find the muscle tissue in duck leg to be quite stringy. Roughly cutting it produces better texture in the rillette). Add 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard, ground white pepper and 1 turn of freshly ground black pepper. With the machine mixing on medium-high speed, SLOWLY SLOWLY start adding in 3/4 cup of duck fat. Do this 1 tsp at a time in the beginning and increase the amount after mid-way. The mustard and the fat has to form a beautiful emulsion. If the emulsion breaks, the rillette will taste greasy instead of creamy.
Once 3/4 cup of duck fat is completely incorporated, I stop the machine and taste-test it. In this case the duck legs are slightly larger than usual, so I ended up adding 2 tbsp more of mustard and duck fat. The mark is that the rillette should be soft and moist, not dry and craggy.
Transfer the rillette into air-tight containers. Try not to include too much air pockets. Pour a thin layer of duck fat on top to seal it (in this case it has to be pure duck fat otherwise it wouldnāt solidify) and refrigerate it for at least 1 day. Keep the rest of the duck fat for next confit (some liquid usually comes out of the duck during cooking which should be āgello-edā once chilled, and thus easy to separate from the fat).
Serve on warm, toasted breads with a couple drops of extra virgin. Dangerously snackable.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/098.jpg)
### Related posts:
[Sichuan Chili Oil](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/10/25/sichuan-chili-oil-eng/)
[MACAO'S PORTUGUESE FRIED RICE GRATIN](https://ladyandpups.com/2015/01/14/macaos-portugese-fried-rice-gratin/)
[HOW TO ACTUALLY COOK PERFECT RICE WITHOUT A RICE-COOKER](https://ladyandpups.com/2015/08/03/how-to-actually-cook-perfect-rice-without-a-rice-cooker/)
SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW RECIPE NOTICES:
[ ladyandpups FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM](https://www.instagram.com/ladyandpups/ "@ladyandpups")
[(Scroll left). The first thing I did after coming ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DReQBk7D9Zy/)
[Oh my gosh, I canāt believe Iāll be heading to \#ch ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ8yZRMDyCV/)
[Restaurant menu consultancy is more stressful than ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DPeGA2uDw9e/)
[Did I mention Iāve acquired a new hobby lately? T ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DPbZNODD4kJ/)
[What Iāve been up to lately. Guess what it is lol ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMe5czTPwDV/)
[@bakehousehk egg tart with a huge dollop of homema ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DKWeeOxPuKP/)
[I just got news that we have sold out our \#Chiangm ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJBR4Z-Pr6D/)
[A big heartfelt thanks to all the people who had s ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG5fw_rP7Aq/)
[Follow on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ladyandpups/)
December 13, 2012
mandy@ladyandpups
[All recipes](https://ladyandpups.com/category/all/), [Poultry](https://ladyandpups.com/category/poultry/), [Snacks](https://ladyandpups.com/category/snacks/)
[charcuterie](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/charcuterie/), [crostini](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/crostini/), [cured meat](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/cured-meat/), [duck confit](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/duck-confit/), [duck rillette](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/duck-rillette/), [french](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/french/), [fresh peppercorn](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/fresh-peppercorn/), [ę²¹å°é“Øč
æčé¬](https://ladyandpups.com/tag/%E6%B2%B9%E5%B0%81%E9%B4%A8%E8%85%BF%E8%82%89%E9%86%AC/)
***
### 6 responses to āCreamy Duck Rilletteā
1. **MK** says:
[December 18, 2012 at 12:32 AM](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-2092)
I had this at the Christmas party , it was deeeelish !! thanks so much for sharing , am glad I read the fat content after I ate it haha !\!
[Reply](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-2092)
- **Mandy L.** says:
[December 25, 2012 at 4:24 AM](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-2165)
Oh thanks Mary! I will make you a SMALLER JAR next time :)
[Reply](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-2165)
2. **Mei** says:
[April 16, 2013 at 11:54 PM](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-7198)
Hi! Do you mind if I ask where you bought the ducklegs? As one Beijing resident to another, Iām amazed at the ingredients you manage to find haha : )
[Reply](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-7198)
- **Mandy L.** says:
[April 17, 2013 at 12:06 AM](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-7200)
Mei, oh oh I know I know! There is a local market at äøęŗé called äøęŗéčåøåŗ. The address is :ęé³åŗäøäøēÆé”ŗęŗč”1å·(äøå
äøę”„脿) . Here is the baidu link: <http://map.baidu.com/detail?qt=ninf&uid=1737a8058703c20b0b5cb32e&wd=&b=(12964093.47,4831659.22;12965538.47,4832502.22)&&detail=shopping>
They have all sorts of ingredients that caters to foreigners. Thatās where I get most of my stuff.
[Reply](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-7200)
3. **Taylor56** says:
[April 19, 2020 at 4:21 AM](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-321191)
Looks super delicious! Have you tried to do it with a slow cooker?
I found this recipe which is pretty similar (with pork though) but they use a slow cooker. It gives a lot of flavor.
<https://blog.dad.kitchen/french-pork-rillettes/>
[Reply](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-321191)
- **[mandy@ladyandpups](https://888.c3b.myftpupload.com/)** says:
[April 19, 2020 at 2:52 PM](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-321193)
Taylor, no I donāt have a slow cooker lol.
[Reply](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#comment-321193)
### Leave a Reply [Cancel reply](https://ladyandpups.com/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/#respond)
[ ladyandpups FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM](https://www.instagram.com/ladyandpups/ "@ladyandpups")
[(Scroll left). The first thing I did after coming ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DReQBk7D9Zy/)
[Oh my gosh, I canāt believe Iāll be heading to \#ch ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ8yZRMDyCV/)
[Restaurant menu consultancy is more stressful than ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DPeGA2uDw9e/)
[Did I mention Iāve acquired a new hobby lately? T ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DPbZNODD4kJ/)
[What Iāve been up to lately. Guess what it is lol ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMe5czTPwDV/)
[@bakehousehk egg tart with a huge dollop of homema ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DKWeeOxPuKP/)
[I just got news that we have sold out our \#Chiangm ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJBR4Z-Pr6D/)
[A big heartfelt thanks to all the people who had s ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG5fw_rP7Aq/)
[FOLLOW](https://www.instagram.com/ladyandpups/)
[](https://ladyandpups.com/)
- [ABOUT](https://ladyandpups.com/about-us/)
- [CONTACT US](https://ladyandpups.com/contact-us/)
- [COOKBOOK](https://ladyandpups.com/to-order-our-cookbook/)
- [NEWSLETTER](https://ladyandpups.com/subscribe-confirm/)
- - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ladyandpups/)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@MandyLeeLadyandpups)
Proudly powered by [WordPress](https://wordpress.org/)
Ć |
| Readable Markdown | [](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/duck-rillette-featured-header-e1355381338582.png)
The other night during my thrill-less routine of midnight internet-surfing, I came across an article about the mysterious effect of mind has on physical wellness. You know, happy people healthy life kind of thing. (By the way Hello, my name is Mandy and Iām a hypochondriac. Those who are just here thinking thereād be ābetter-than-Parisā duck, feel free to skip and scroll right to the bottomā¦). So volunteers were gathered and tests were conducted. In a nut shell, I was diagnosed by the article as the kind who are biologically doomed, incapable of being happy under meditation and will be a sag of meat dripping negativity for the rest of my life, which as far as effect-of-mind-on-health goes isnāt gonna be a long one. Itās settled. I will live short, and whimper.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-3.jpg)
Life is amazing⦠as the window of hope for longevity closes, it opens another (maybe Iām not a pessimist after all). You know as they say ā short life ā enjoy the moment ā therefore indulge in creamy ducks. Wait, that sounds wrong. You wouldnāt normally put the word ācreamyā and āduckā together, would you? I mean itās weird, sounds absurd. Like itād put a cork in your artery (it may be correct on that note). But believe it or not, ācreamyā and āduckā is possible. More accurately, creamy meat. I discovered something called ārilletteā from Thomas Keller shortly after my [rude awakening](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/2012/05/26/the-perfect-o-eng/ "The Perfect O å®ē¾ēé¶") last September, which is a genius creation from a little Far-far-away named France (great foods⦠chic people, canāt believe nobody knows about itā¦). Itās one of those āDUH!ā culinary moment for me. Meat is confit-ed as in cooked in its own fat, moisture extracted and replaced with more fat, until rendered down into a purity of concentrated and compact meatiness, THEN whipped into a creamy paste in.. yes, its own fat. Just the sheer number of āfatā mentioned is enough to give a vegetarian heart attack.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-2.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-10.jpg)
Goes without saying that creamy duck can and should be anything BUT indulged in large quantity. But since I had an emptiness to fill, I experienced with an unhealthy number of rillettes in the following month. There was the Spanish-paprika-pork version⦠then the Southeast-Asia-lemongrass-chicken version, and then this duck version flavored with fresh peppercorns. Believe me when I say itās better than what we had in [Paris](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/2012/05/05/paris-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/ "Paris, Where Have You Been All My Life?"). For the entire October, I used it to fill my grief and the hollowness inside which leads me to a discovery ā grief and calories are recipe for a larger pants-size. A whole year later, the remnant of that monthās recklessness and my waist-line has still yet to part. This recipe will produce approx 4 cups of rillette which fills 2 medium-size jars. I suggest making the second jar an excellent holiday gift because itās dangerously⦠or donāt. Because lifeās too short.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-111.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-9.jpg)[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/duck-rillette-13.jpg)
\* I couldnāt find fresh bay leaves here so I didnāt include it.
\*\* To extract duck fat, cut duck skins into small pieces and fry in a pot without any other added oil. Fry until the skins shrink and give out all its fat.
\*\*\* If fresh green peppercorn isnāt available, I suspect that it could be substituted with 2 tbsp of dry green peppercorn. Though I havenāt tried it before.
**Ingredients:** inspired and adapted from Thomas Keller
- 4 Peking duck legs
- 6 tbsp of coarse sea salt
- 2 fresh bay leaves \*
- 1 1/2 tbsp of fresh green peppercorn \*\*\*
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3~4 cups of duck fat \*\* (or a combination of duck fat and olive oil)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp of ground white pepper (Itās important to use WHITE pepper in this recipe. Donāt replace it with black pepper itās completely different)
- 1 turn of ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp of duck fat
To confit the duck legs. Pulse coarse sea salt and fresh bay leaves in the food processor until blended together as āgreen saltā. Wash the duck legs and pat dry. Rub the green salt all over the duck legs and make sure every surface is covered. Lay them flat and separated on a tray and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Preheat the oven on 300ĀŗF/150ĀŗC.
After marinated and sort of ācuredā, you could discard the liquid that was drawn out of the duck legs and wash them under water to rinse out all the salt. Pat them VERY dry with a clean towel, and place them in a deep and narrow pot thatās just big enough to hold the duck legs in diameter. The more tightly you pack the legs and the less empty space left in between them and the pot, the less oil youāll need to have them submerged. Scatter the peppercorns, thyme and garlic into the pot. Pour in the duck fat (if you donāt have enough duck fat, you could substitute partially with olive oil) until all the ingredients are submerged by at least 1/2ā³ or 2 cm.
Put the lid on, and bake in the oven for 3~4 hours until the meat has completely pulled away from the knuckle, and a fork can be easily inserted without any effort. Take the pot out and let it cool down to room temperature. Carefully remove the legs without breaking it, then strain the fat through a sieve into another container. Many recipe would tell you to leave the the duck legs in the fat and refrigerate it. But I find it very difficult to separate the duck legs from the cold fat so hereās what I do. I wrap the duck legs very tightly with plastic wraps to prevent drying-out, then refrigerate the legs and fat separately.
The reason for refrigeration is because itās better to work with chilled/cold fat in rillettes for a creamier texture.
Once the legs and fat are chilled, remove the meat and skin from the legs and discard all the bones. Set the meat in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. roughly cut the meat into shorter pieces with a scissor (I find the muscle tissue in duck leg to be quite stringy. Roughly cutting it produces better texture in the rillette). Add 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard, ground white pepper and 1 turn of freshly ground black pepper. With the machine mixing on medium-high speed, SLOWLY SLOWLY start adding in 3/4 cup of duck fat. Do this 1 tsp at a time in the beginning and increase the amount after mid-way. The mustard and the fat has to form a beautiful emulsion. If the emulsion breaks, the rillette will taste greasy instead of creamy.
Once 3/4 cup of duck fat is completely incorporated, I stop the machine and taste-test it. In this case the duck legs are slightly larger than usual, so I ended up adding 2 tbsp more of mustard and duck fat. The mark is that the rillette should be soft and moist, not dry and craggy.
Transfer the rillette into air-tight containers. Try not to include too much air pockets. Pour a thin layer of duck fat on top to seal it (in this case it has to be pure duck fat otherwise it wouldnāt solidify) and refrigerate it for at least 1 day. Keep the rest of the duck fat for next confit (some liquid usually comes out of the duck during cooking which should be āgello-edā once chilled, and thus easy to separate from the fat).
Serve on warm, toasted breads with a couple drops of extra virgin. Dangerously snackable.
[](http://u6n.80b.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/098.jpg)
SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW RECIPE NOTICES: |
| Shard | 116 (laksa) |
| Root Hash | 17694706084982529316 |
| Unparsed URL | com,ladyandpups!/2012/12/13/creamy-duck-rillette-eng/ s443 |