In this beautiful dish we take an old French classic and give it our own little Lime Kiln twist. Duck legs are slow cooked in their own fat, cooled and then reheated to crisp up the skin. And let’s face it, who doesn’t like crispy skin? Confit dishes can tend to be heavy but we serve it with lentils, stock, vegetables and finish it with an orange glaze. The end result is a much lighter dish and because everything can be prepared the day before it’s perfect for entertaining.

Serves 6

Directions

1. Chop the thyme and the rosemary and mix it with the sea salt, rub the salt mixture on the duck legs, cover with cling film and leave to marinate for 6 to 24 hrs in the fridge
2. Preheat the oven to 140^oc, remove duck legs from fridge, pat dry with paper towels and place in a deep oven proof dish. Cover with duck fat and add bay leaves and peppercorns.
3. Cook for 2.5 hours and remove from oven to cool. Gently place duck legs in a bowl and ladle over the duck fat and store in the fridge until needed. In fact so long as the legs are completely covered in fat and not exposed to the air they should keep for a couple of weeks.
4. To make the glaze place all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce to a syrup. Remove from heat and cool.
5. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and simmer lentils for about 20/25 mins. They should still have a bite and not too soft. Strain and set aside.
6. Sweat onion, carrot and celery in half of the butter until soft, add stock, reduce by half and add lentils. Remove from heat and keep warm. The lentils can also be prepared the day before, cool at this stage and refrigerate.
7. Preheat the oven to 180^oc and place an ovenproof frying pan on to heat. Place legs on the pan skin side down, cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turn over and place in the oven for 25 to 30 mins.
8. Sweat the shredded cabbage in another saucepan with the rest of the butter. Add a few drops of water to create steam and when the cabbage has softened slightly add the lentils to the saucepan and bring back to the boil (if the lentils were prepared a day ahead, gently heat them with a little stock or water before adding to the cabbage). Check the seasoning and divide between 6 bowls.
9. Carefully remove the duck from the oven, there will be a good bit of hot fat on the pan so take care. Place a leg on each pile of lentils, drizzle with glaze and serve.

Serve with duck fat roasted potatoes or for a lighter option, a leaf salad with finely sliced shallots and radish with vinaigrette……..or both!!

Our La Florencia Malbec is the perfect wine to accompany this.

Let us know how it turns out!

Robert, Head Chef @ The Lime Kiln