Duck Leg Confit with Butternut Squash Ragout and Duck Jus

• Chef’s Note: I always look for a local company or butcher shop that specializes in duck. Most grocery stores bring in frozen duck products (which is fine) but they likely won’t have duck bones or high quality duck fat. I strongly recommend doing the research to find a high quality butcher/ purveyor in your local area.
• First, we are going to lightly cure the duck legs overnight, this imparts flavor and pulls moisture from the skin to improve texture once the duck is cooked. In a Ziploc bag, add your duck legs, salt, garlic, shallot, pepper, and parsley. Rub the mixture in the bag so the duck legs are coated then place the bag in the refrigerator to cure overnight.
• Rinse the cure from the duck and pat dry. Place the duck into a deep roasting pan or Dutch oven and cover with melted duck fat.
• Cover with parchment and foil and bake in the oven at 325°F for 2 hours or until fork tender. The time will vary depending on your oven, it could be up to 3 hours.
• Once the legs are cooked remove from the oven and uncover the legs. Add 5 cloves of crushed garlic and 5 sprigs of fresh thyme to the hot fat and allow to cool completely (a few hours). You can store you duck this was for up to a week prior to when you would like to serve.
• When you are ready to serve, remove the legs from the fat and roast over medium heat in a heavy sauté pan to crisp the skin, flip the legs and finish in the oven at 350°F until heated to 160°F internal. If you are serving immediately after the previous step, check internal temp after roasting, you may not need to put it back in the oven.

• In a medium pan over medium/ high heat add the shallots, carrots, and squash with a little vegetable oil, sauté until they start to brown a little.
• Add the bell pepper, cherry tomatoes and garlic. Sauté for another 2 minutes.
• Deglaze the pan with the white wine and once it’s almost completely reduced add the butter and stir for a minute until the butter is melted and coating the veggies. Add the parsley.

• Chef’s Note: If you’re having trouble finding a duck carcass, chicken bones work just as well. You can also omit the ingredient entirely, but it adds wonderful depth of flavor.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F. Roast the duck bones, onion, and carrot in the oven until golden brown, about 40 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and place in a large pot.
• Add the bay, rosemary, and chicken stock plus 2 quarts cold water.
• Bring to a very low simmer. Let the stock simmer for 5 hours. If it reduces by more than 25% before 5 hours have passed, then add a little water and keep simmering.
• After 5 hours strain the stock into another pot and reduce over high heat to ½ quart or until it’s glossy and it coats a spoon (should be less than an hour). Season with salt and pepper and whisk in a tablespoon of butter if desired.
• Plate the crispy skin duck leg on a small pile of the ragout and finish with the duck jus.

This is a wonderful alternative for your Thanksgiving table! Plate your crispy skin Duck Leg Confit on a small pile of the Butternut Squash Ragout and finish with the duck jus. Serve immediately with a glass of Davis Estates Zephyr.