I fully acknowledge this is a first-world problem: I wanted to make something this weekend using a plain duck leg, but I can only get confit duck legs. Can I use that instead, or would a duck breast be better? Or something else?
I found an amazing sounding recipe in a new cookbook for a cassoulet-inspired thing that hit my sweet spot of a) not that time-consuming, and b) made small quantities; and best of all, I had 90% of the ingredients on hand (and they were ingredients I've been trying to use up). You sear a whole duck leg, then render the fat from a handful of chopped pancetta and use all that fat to cook the aromatics; then in goes some lentils and broth, a little pomegranate molasses and I think some vinegar, and then the leg goes back in the pot and the whole thing goes in the oven for an hour. I have everything but the pancetta and the duck leg, and I'm trying to get through a backlog of beans anyway and this sounded ideal.
I know my local supermarket has pre-chopped pancetta, so that's sorted, and even if they're out I'm comfortable substituting regular bacon (I know they're different, but I've done it before and I'm comfortable doing that). But I thought I'd seen regular duck legs there, but have discovered they only seem to have duck breasts, and confit duck legs; I've not cooked duck often enough to know how to adapt, or even if such an adaptation would be possible or advisable. So can I use the confit duck leg, and if so, is there a way I should adapt the recipe? Or would a duck breast be better? (I also know I could just not make this, but....dammit, doesn't that sound good?) |
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