Recipe: Côte de Boeuf’s decadent duck confit (it’s worth the two-day preparation process)
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 3 hours plus 15 minutes
REFRIGERATION TIME: 2 days
Serves 4
DUCK CONFIT
⅔ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup kosher salt
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp cracked black pepper
1 tbsp red pepper chili flakes
½ tsp fennel seed
½ tsp cumin seed
1 cinnamon stick
4 duck legs
3 cups duck fat
1. 1. Stir sugar, salt and spices in a bowl. Slice through duck leg tendons and place legs in a baking dish; they should fit snugly. Rub spice mixture into legs. Cover and refrigerate for 2 days. Rinse legs. Pat dry.
2. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 250°F. Arrange duck legs in an 8-inch square baking dish. Set on a baking sheet. Spoon duck fat overtop. Don’t worry if fat is cold from refrigeration; it will melt and evenly distribute while cooking. Roast in oven for 3 hours until tender. Let cool. If making ahead, duck legs in fat will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for at least a week.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove duck legs from fat and scrape off any excess. Set duck fat aside for another use (see tip). Place legs skin-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until duck is warm and skin is crisp and golden. Serve with sautéed mushrooms, roasted potatoes and steamed asparagus.
TIP
Strain any leftover duck fat from this recipe through a fine sieve and store in a resealable container. It’ll keep well for up to a week in the fridge and a month in the freezer. You can use it to fry omelettes or potatoes.
TEO PAUL
CÔTE DE BOEUF
Chef Teo Paul is a meat man. At Union, the Ossington restaurant he co-owns with his brother, Chasen Gillies, he serves habanero-spiced steak tartare, elk sliders and sticky back ribs smoked over charcoal. The brothers were so fixated on the flesh that they opened Côte de Boeuf, a butcher shop, down the street. The place looks like a scene from belle époque Paris. Prime cuts hang in the window. Luxe prepared meals fill a gleaming vitrine. The mustachioed brothers are as much a part of the old-world tableau as Paul’s duck confit—a decadent pleasure that’s worth every second of its painstaking two-day preparation process.
Recipes developed by Victoria Walsh. Recipe photography by Raina and Wilson. Illustrations by Aleksandar Janicijevic. Interviews by Meaghan Binstock, Chantal Braganza, Matthew Hague, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Caroline Youdan.
&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/toronto-life-cookbook-recipe-duck-confit-624x624.jpg&description=
DUCK CONFIT
By Teo Paul
Côte de Boeuf
DUCK CONFIT
By Teo Paul
Côte de Boeuf
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 3 hours plus 15 minutes
REFRIGERATION TIME: 2 days
Serves 4
DUCK CONFIT
⅔ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup kosher salt
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp cracked black pepper
1 tbsp red pepper chili flakes
½ tsp fennel seed
½ tsp cumin seed
1 cinnamon stick
4 duck legs
3 cups duck fat
1. 1. Stir sugar, salt and spices in a bowl. Slice through duck leg tendons and place legs in a baking dish; they should fit snugly. Rub spice mixture into legs. Cover and refrigerate for 2 days. Rinse legs. Pat dry.
2. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 250°F. Arrange duck legs in an 8-inch square baking dish. Set on a baking sheet. Spoon duck fat overtop. Don’t worry if fat is cold from refrigeration; it will melt and evenly distribute while cooking. Roast in oven for 3 hours until tender. Let cool. If making ahead, duck legs in fat will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for at least a week.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove duck legs from fat and scrape off any excess. Set duck fat aside for another use (see tip). Place legs skin-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until duck is warm and skin is crisp and golden. Serve with sautéed mushrooms, roasted potatoes and steamed asparagus.
TIP
Strain any leftover duck fat from this recipe through a fine sieve and store in a resealable container. It’ll keep well for up to a week in the fridge and a month in the freezer. You can use it to fry omelettes or potatoes.
TEO PAUL
CÔTE DE BOEUF
Chef Teo Paul is a meat man. At Union, the Ossington restaurant he co-owns with his brother, Chasen Gillies, he serves habanero-spiced steak tartare, elk sliders and sticky back ribs smoked over charcoal. The brothers were so fixated on the flesh that they opened Côte de Boeuf, a butcher shop, down the street. The place looks like a scene from belle époque Paris. Prime cuts hang in the window. Luxe prepared meals fill a gleaming vitrine. The mustachioed brothers are as much a part of the old-world tableau as Paul’s duck confit—a decadent pleasure that’s worth every second of its painstaking two-day preparation process.
Recipes developed by Victoria Walsh. Recipe photography by Raina and Wilson. Illustrations by Aleksandar Janicijevic. Interviews by Meaghan Binstock, Chantal Braganza, Matthew Hague, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Caroline Youdan.){kind=link}