Why do you just assume that you would never make something as time consuming as duck confit? Just because it takes a lot of time doesn't mean you have to do a lot. In fact, your hands-on time for duck confit is under an hour, and that time is cut up into at least three different sections. On two different days.
The most intimidating part of duck confit, for me, can be getting the duck to your house in the first place. The thing is to go to your butcher with very detailed and clear ideas of what you want. Tell him you want to buy a whole duck. Tell him you're going to make duck confit. Ask them to quarter the duck for you, and ask them to separate the rib and wing part from the breast meat. You're going to use the wings, back, and ribs to render down for fat, so you want to take the whole duck home. Well, you want to take the entire duck home. I guess he won't be whole any longer. Don't let the butcher bully you into anything else! Tell him this is what you want. Even if he thinks he's smarter than you, just be assured that I am smarter than him.
Okie dokie!
Once you get the bird home, refrigerate him until you're ready to cure him. OK, I'll stop saying "him" and start using "it." Sorry.
Once you're ready to start the recipe, put all the parts you're not curing into a big pot with a 1/2 cup of butter and render the fat. keep the burner on low and let it do it's thing. It will take at least 1/2 hour. You want the bird parts to be brow-ny gray and you want there to be about a cup of liquid in the bottom of the pan. Let the fat cool a bit and then put it into a storage container in the fridge until you're ready to braise. So, for 2 days.
You will eventually be using a lot of butter to braise the duck portions in. don't be skimpy. You want to have enough butter. Better too much than not enough. You can always use butter, right?
DO THIS! Top a salad with it, toss it in some pasta, eat it straight out of the fridge, whatever. It's duck confit!
(You can multiply this recipe by 2, 3 or 4 depending on how much you want and how quickly you'll use it up.)
6 duck legs (or 2 legs and 2 breasts)
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/2 Tablespoon quatre epice (whole cloves, whole peppercorns, ground ginger, fresh ground nutmeg)
1/2 head of garlic, broken and peeled
Duck fat and, like, 6 cups or more of butter.
Combine the salt and quatre epice in a bowl. Dip the duck legs, meat side down, in the salt mixture. place one leg, meat side up, skin side down, with another leg on top of it meat-side to meat-side, in a pan with at least 1-inch high sides. Do this with the rest of the duck. Cover well with plastic or a tight lid and cure for 48 hours.
After 48 hours of curing:
Preheat oven to 250.
Remove duck portions from the refrigerator and rinse very well, rubbing the meat side under cold running water to remove any excess salt. (It is essential to rinse the meat very thoroughly or else the meat will be too salty.)
In a braiser large enough to fit the duck portions snugly, lay them, overlapping slightly, with the bones toward the center. Place the garlic in the middle of the braiser and cover with enough butter and duck fat to cover all of the contents of the braiser completely. Cover with foil and cook for about three hours, until the meat falls nicely from the bones.
Remove the duck portions from the fat and place in a storage container. Strain the fat though a fine mesh strainer then pour it back over the legs. For extended storage, the fat must cover the legs completely. Stored correctly, the confit will last about 6 months.
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