Duck Rillettes

[Fatback Joe]

I made this a little over a month ago. I meant to post it, but got sidetracked and kind of forgot about it. I saw a duck rillette mentioned in a different thread and it reminded me and thought I would post. I had a whole duck, but really only had plans for the breast to make proscuitto and maybe the legs for confit...........I looked around a bit for some ideas on using the rest of the duck and duck rillette seemed like it might be alright and something out of my normal routine on both the cooking and eating front.


Broke down the duck.



Seasoned the leg quarters with K salt, black pepper, garlic cloves and a few sprigs of thyme. Threw the fat and skin on top of it and then into the fridge for 24.



Figured I would throw a little smoke to the wings just because everything is better with a little smoke. Cherry wood if I remember correctly.



The next day, I took all the pieces and parts and gave them a rinse and put them in an enamel DO with some more garlic and thyme. Put in the duck fat that I had on hand and added some EVOO to bring the fat level up above the parts. Put the lid on and into the smoker at 200 for about 6 hours. Pic is probably 3 hours in when I checked on things.



Retrieved from the oil.



Strained all the oil and kept that for other uses and put the pieces in the fridge overnight.

Next day, picked everything as clean as my ADD would allow.



Shredded the meat and cut down the length of some of the longer pieces. A few sources I read said you could use a food processor for this step, but a bowl and a wooden spoon was more "traditional"........went with "traditional". Mixed the duck with cognac and parsley.......just kind of kept mixing until it looked like the pics I had seen. It took a little while.



Transfered the mix to a ramiken and poured some of the reserved fat over it and back into the fridge over night.

Tried it on some crackers since that was what was handy.



Didn't really know what to expect since I had never had it before, but I was pretty underwhelmed. It wasn't bad, but didn't really strike me as being worth the effort. Would have been easier to just cook the duck and drink the cognac.

Looking back on it, it just may have been the quality of the booze that left me thinking it could be better. Hell, maybe I nailed it and just don't know any better.........certainly open to suggestions.

[fingerlickin']

It looks great!

I hear you though, I'd have been temped to just fire that confit on a CWB with some slaw and have at it, and put that cognac to better use in my belly.

[Fatback Joe]

Brisket and whiskey will beat it every day.

[deguerre]

After the meat had been cut up I probably would have made a pot pie. The finished dish you got kinda reminds me of potted meat...

Wonder if that could have been further mixed with breadcrumbs for croquets fried in the duck fat though.

[CharredApron]

Originally Posted by deguerre

After the meat had been cut up I probably would have made a pot pie. The finished dish you got kinda reminds me of potted meat...

Wonder if that could have been further mixed with breadcrumbs for croquets fried in the duck fat though.

Ronelle like his on Crostini with crisp, cold, Gherkins! Ala Francaise.
I also make mine with Armagnac. Perhaps the breast meat made it bland as well. Typically it is made from legs and thighs only. I'd hit that though!
I seem to have a problem rolling pot pie, need to devise a way to dry it before rolling. It won't stay lit!

[Fatback Joe]

Originally Posted by Hometruckin

Perhaps the breast meat made it bland as well.

No breast meat in it, just legs, thighs and wings, the breast was just in the first pic where I broke the duck down.

[BobM]

That looks wonderful, nice job!

[cowgirl]

It looks and sounds great Joe!