Confit Days are some of my favorites Winter days; pots and kettles, jars and terrines start to align like so many stars in a Winter constellation- the Fat Duck. This weekend is the first weekend in the Keeping Kitchen at Camont in 2015. We’re starting off with the basics: how to buy a duck and how to breakdown and butcher it into perfect confit-sized morsels– all of it!– not just the legs, friends. It’s the most often asked question (next to “how much salt?”)- can you confit more than just the legs? 
Winter cooking in France is about fattening the larder, pantry or whatever else you call your stash of gastronomic fast foods. It’s the time to replenish the jars of duck rillettes, pork paté, and confit de canard. There’ll be little jars of gesiers or gizzards for summer salads, hearts stuffed with foie gras for aperitifs, and pots of grattons or duck cracklin’s spiced with my secret Gascon blend! It’s also the prefect time to salt cure and dry some magrets de canard–those big meaty duck breasts– and hang in my new charcuterie closet under the kitchen stairs. The stone walls, now well insulated, a ventilation hole to the north side of the barn, and a two way fan, I can adjust the natural flow of cold air into the 8 cubic meter space- now holding at 16’C. Last year’s birthday ham has been ripening here and we’ll be tasting it along with some fresh duck products for lunch during the workshop.
If you have an desire to taste the flavor of Gascony and discover the perfume of the Southwest of France, then follow along this weekend as we transform the Gascon staple of the meaty fat duck into a panoply of easily made kitchen charcuterie. I’ll show you how on Instagram, facebook, and twitter all day Saturday & Sunday. Follow along!
The post How to make Duck Confit: Live from the Keeping Kitchen. appeared first on Kitchen at Camont.