Duck Confit Part 2

The Duck Confit Collective met again a few weeks later, after the duck legs had had sufficient time to cure. We met on a snowy day that was perfect cassoulet weather.

Once again Sam did a better job of posting about this event. I went pickle-crazy and pickled several types, as I anticipated it would be nice to have something with a sour note to cut what would otherwise be an extremely gluttonous spread.

A soy-based jalapeno pickle.

Threw in a few coriander seeds for this carrot radish pickle with rice vinegar and white vinegar.

This daikon pickle tasted bitter to me. I love these daikon pickles at Korean restaurants, so I really want to learn how to get the recipe right.

Homemade sausage for the cassoulet. I want a KitchenAid with a meat grinder attachment too.

Duck prosciutto - traditional blend. For more on the making, go here at Sam and Abby's blog.

This is the one with the five spice blend. I could not get enough of this. Super fatty and salty, I revisted the prosciutto spread again and again.

Duck cassoulet ready to simmer.

Shredded duck confit for a pizza and for some Chines-style buns.

Prepped pizza with fig spread, shredded duck confit, and slices of Morbier cheese.

All burners on Sam's stove were going full force.

The finished pizza. Ain't it beeeeautiful?

Accompaniments for the Chinese buns. I sliced these. Aren't I a good slicer?

Beets and beet greens. Someone wanted these beets to go in the duck confit frisee salad. I am very very glad that he lost that battle. Beets are all very fine and well, but one need not meld all great things in life.

The finished cassoulet. This is a stick to your ribs, heavy-hitter of a dish.

Duck confit risotto. A lot of it. One easily forgets how much rice expands in liquid. I know I do every single time I make risotto.

The whole spread. Ah, the joy to sit down and see the following sight. It's usually at this point that I make a note of how much of my belly is straining against my jeans and make a not-so-subtle fit adjustment: stand up, grab waistband, shimmy bottom, sit back down.

And the first thing I got to try was this duck confit frisee salad with duck fat croutons and poached duck egg. The fantastic thing about poaching duck eggs instead of chicken eggs, is the significantly larger yolk. Gotta love the runny yolk!