HOW TO MAKE CONFIT
Serves: 6
HOW TO MAKE CONFIT
Ready in: 30 MinTotal time: 30 Min
Confit, the method of cooking meat in some sort of melted fat, has long been a common practice to preserve meat.
Ingredients
- Duck Confit from Epicurious
- Chicken Confit from Mark Bittman
- If you're interested in making a non-meat confit, try this one: Fennel, Lemon and Garlic Confit
Instructions
HOW TO MAKE CONFIT:
- Confit, the method of cooking meat in some sort of melted fat, has long been a common practice to preserve meat. And while its popularity has grown in the fine-dining world (i.e.: Duck Confit), it's not just for meat. You can confit garlic cloves and shallots, fish, lemons, fennel (vegetable confits are usually made in olive oil as opposed to animal fat).
- If you haven’t attempted to confit at home, the following chef’s tips are a few guidelines to walk you through the process. It’s not difficult or complicated at all, but it does take time. And, it is not for the weak of heart or the fat-free eaters! It takes a significant amount of fat to preserve larger proteins, like duck or chicken, but the end result is so very worth it. I can think of very few foods that are as deliciously indulgent as a Duck Confit Salad, the rich, tender, fall-off-the-bone meat set atop a bed of frisee lettuce, adorned with a bitey sherry vinaigrette and garnished with slices of fresh pear, crumbled blue cheese and a few scattered candied pecans; of, and a poached egg, to gild the lily.
SO, WHAT IS CONFIT?
- Meat confit is made from meat that has been salt-cured for a few days, slowly cooked in melted fat (usually the fat from the animal itself), and then sealed in fat to preserve it. The result is incredibly tender and flavorful meat ,similar to the succulence of pulled pork.
- You can make confit out of any meat you like, but duck, goose and rabbit are the most common. Making confit is more of a technique than a recipe, but here are a few recipes for basic ratios, cooking times, and spice mixes:
- Duck Confit from Epicurious
- Chicken Confit from Mark Bittman If you're interested in making a non-meat confit, try this one:
- Recipe: Fennel, Lemon and Garlic Confit
BASIC STEPS FOR A MEAT CONFIT:
- Salt all the meat being made into confit quite heavily and refrigerate for at least a day. The salt seasons the meat and starts curing it for longer preservation. You can also add a dry spice rub for extra flavor.
- Melt enough fat to cover all of the meat. Rinse the salt, rub off the meat, pat it dry, and add it to the pan with the melted fat. You can cook the meat on the stove top or in the oven. Either way you should just see a few occasional bubbles coming up to the surface and the fat should stay around 190°. Cook slowly for several hours until the meat is tender enough to pull easily from the bone.
- Let the meat cool to room temperature while still in the fat. Transfer the meat into a container for long-term storage and cover with the melted fat. The fat should completely cover the meat. This can be refrigerated for several weeks. The flavor will continue to improve with age.
HOW TO USE CONFIT?
- When you're ready to use your confit, set it in a pan of warm water until the fat is softened. Remove the meat and wipe off excess fat. (The fat can be reused for cooking.)
- You can reheat whole pieces of confit and serve them as a main course. The skin becomes incredibly crispy while the meat stays moist and flavorful. Since the meat is so rich, confit is best paired with lighter dishes like salads.
- You can also remove the meat from the bones and chop it into smaller pieces. This meat can be used in cassoulet, ravioli, green salads, risotto, or pasta sauces.