 Roasted thyme infused Confit of Duck (Michigan's West Coast)
Source: The Heritage | 151 Fountain Street NE | Grand Rapids, MI, 49503
616-234-3700
Roasted thyme infused Confit of Duck by Chef Angus Campbell, instructor at The Heritage restaurant in Grand Rapids, is a dish that melts in your mouth. It is served with garlic chive Yukon gold potato hash, baby carrots, buttered snap peas, orange sesame salad and sauce bigarade.
Confit of Duck
The French word confit means "preserved," and the process was created to preserve a variety of meats and poultry. The most traditionally ingredients associated with confit are goose, duck and pork. The process involves curing the meat in salt, then poaching it slowly in fat, and storing it covered with the fat until you are ready to eat it or use it in further cooking. The technique evolved over thousands of years in cultures around the world and is easily recognized in many cuisines to this day.
Curing the meat in salt makes the water in it unavailable to microorganisms which inhibit bacterial growth slowing down spoilage. Covering the meat with at least an inch of fat after it has been cooked keeps air from reaching it, further retarding the tendency to spoil. If the meat has been properly cured, a confit will keep in a cool, dark place (a cellar or refrigerator) for six months. You can also renew a confit after the first six months by re-cooking it, in which case, it will last for another four to six months. For best, flavor, however, the confit should be consumed within three to five months of the initial cooking.
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