Duck Confit and Pan-Seared Duck Breasts

By Jove, I’ve got it. And I must say using a freshly slaughtered free-range Muscovy duck; otherwise known in the Philippines as “bibe”. We won’t have any of these industrial-grown vacuum-packed leg quarters or breasts. There’s nothing like naturally-grown fowl, cutting up the duck yourself and rendering the skin and fat for the confit. A genuine rendition of the “pasture to plate” concept.

My first attempt was a roasted Peking Duck recipe, which doesn’t work with a Muscovy. You will need a Pekin duck, which has fattier skin. I surmise it is no coincidence that the Pekin duck breed is the one used for the Peking Duck recipe. The good news is, Muscovy is meatier and it’s the duck used by the French for duck confit and pan-seared duck breasts. After what I did today, I would not want my Muscovy any other way.

Muscovy duck or bibe. Note the bright red-mask on its face--a distinctive feature of the Muscovy.

After extracting the leg quarters and the duck breasts (folks, you need a really sharp boning knife to get this done properly), I removed all the skin and fat to render the same into duck lard—the all important ingredient in duck confit. Ok, since this is my first attempt at duck confit, I did not have enough duck lard to immerse the leg quarters; therefore, I added extra-virgin olive oil to the duck lard (1 to 1 ratio) to achieve the immersion of the leg quarters. And the leg quarters were not quite completely immersed. Well, they will be on my next attempt, because I’m saving this first batch of duck lard/extra-virgin olive oil mix.

The low and slow cooking method (225 degrees F for 2.5 to 3 hours) is bound to tenderize the leg quarters of even the toughest free-range duck in all of Central Luzon. The rest is just searing the skin to a crackling crisp. Oh boy, was it crispy—just like the duck confit I had in Antonio's (Tagaytay) or in the chi-chi French restaurant that Moe brought me to in New York City.

Duck Confit

Of course, we still have the duck breasts, which doesn’t quite work the same way as the leg quarters. Fortunately, we have sous vide today to take away the guesswork on the doneness of the breast meat (135 degrees F for 1 hour). Unlike chicken, it’s safe (and more delicious) to eat medium rare duck breasts. It’s similar to filet mignon, which would be a crime to consume well-done. Like the duck confit, the skin-side of the duck breast is pan-seared to achieve that crackling crisp once again!

Pan-Seared Duck Breast

I did not have the ingredients readily available at the farm to prepare a fruity sauce for the duck. Yes, yes . . . poor planning. Until my next “p to p” rendition . . . lovingly confit to all!