One of my favorite  French bistro dishes is Duck Confit a classic specialty of the French province of Gastony. Originally designed as a method for preserving an entire duck it is now commonly prepared with the legs and thighs. The duck legs are cured with a salt, garlic and a herb mixture for a period of time then rinsed, dried and slowly poached in its own duck fat until tender. This is fine if you have a lot of duck fat but for most home cooks, we will have only have a small amount that we have rendered from our duck. This is a perfect opportunity to use the technique of sous vide witch allows us the ability to do the job with a fraction of the duck fat we would need. We only need to add a small amount of fat in each bag. In this version I am using my standard curing mix which will allow this confit to be able to preserve the meat up to six months in the refrigerator but you can substitute with a mixture of kosher salt, herbs and sugar. The duck will still last a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. Once you prepare the confit you can use it to make salads or the classic French dish, cassoulet (pictured in slideshow below).

Ingredients:

 2-3 pounds duck leg quarters

 1/2 cup home curing mix or a mixture of salt and sugar

 4-6 garlic cloves crushed and minced

 2 Tbsp. dried thyme

 duck fat

Procedure:

 1. Rub each of the duck leg with the curing mix, seal in a plastic dish and store in the refrigerator for at least three days up to a week.

 2. After curing the meat rinse off the salt and spices and vacuum seal the legs with 2 Tbsp. of duck fat for each leg in a food grade sealer bag. Sous vide at 175 degrees F for 10 to 12 hours. Drain the bags (reserving the fat) and place under the broiler to crisp the skin.

​Once people find out I am a chef and ask me what type of food I cook many ask me how to cook the perfect meat whether it is a steak, chicken, turkey, lamb or pork. I say that I pull out my trusty immersion circulator and sous vide the meat. I almost always get a Puzzled look and the question what's that? I start by saying that the most common fault in cooking meat is that people overlook whatever they cook. When you cook two or more separate pieces of meat they will always cook slightly different depending on size and shape of the piece before even considering that the grill or cooking surface will have uneven heat. There is another problem that high heat will cook from the outside in creating a crust while the inside is still raw. As more heat is added the pieces continue to cook and the cook try's to hit the perfect temperature. The problem is even after the meat is taken off the heat it continues to cook (carry over cooking) which makes the perfect doneness. Sous Vide cooking uses precise cooking temperatures to ensure the dish is never over-cooked because the final target temperature is never exceeded. Another great thing is that we can extend cooking times to tenderize tough cuts of meat and also pasteurize our food. This makes it an idea way to make use of cheaper cuts of meat that can be cooked to tender perfection. Not only that but with precision temperature control we con choose our degree of doneness. One of my favorites are beef short ribs cooked medium rare, falling off the bone tender. Imagine BBQ pork smoked then sous vided until tender but not dries out or maybe pot roast or even brisket. We could use this method to confit duck legs with a lot less duck fat then the stove top method and better temperature control. For the last three Thanksgivings I have even Sous Vided my turkey then finished in the deep fryer to produce the best turkey I and my family have ever had. Speaking of the best rib eye steaks are out of this world. 

 So, what is Sous Vide? Food is sealed in a food-safe plastic bag then is vacuum sealed and placed in a water bath that is both heated and circulated with a device called an Immersion Circulator. Sounds expensive? Once that was true; now you can buy one for less then $100 dollars. For your water bath you can use a large pot, a plastic bin; I have even heard of people using a cooler. When you seal your food in the bag you can add seasonings, herbs and fat. You just have to set your temperature and cook your food for the desired time. Once cooked the food can be browned by searing in a hot pan, deep fried or torched with a butane or propane torch.