How to Make Duck Rillettes

Sarah MickeyAll Recipes, Culinary Tips & Techniques, Duck Fat Recipes, Duck Recipes, General Leave a Comment

Duck Rillettes

The above video (and this text version of the recipe) will de-mystify the process of making duck confit and rillettes. You can make your own with time, some spices, duck fat and a whole duck.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 Whole Duck
  • Extra Duck Fat
  • Salt
  • 15 Cloves of Garlic, peeled
  • 1 tbsp Black Peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp Whole Coriander
  • 5 Allspice Berries
  • ¼ cup Dijon Mustard

DIRECTIONS

1

Cut up the duck (video tutorial). Use the duck breasts in other recipes.
2

Trim all excess fat from the carcass & render it.
3

Heavily salt all the other parts of the duck on all sides. Refrigerate them overnight.
4

Rinse off all the salt & pat the duck dry.
5

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
6

Put the duck pieces in a heavy, oven-safe pot with the garlic, peppercorns, coriander, allspice and (if desired) juniper berries.
7

Add enough duck fat to the pot to cover all the pieces.
8

Bake the pot in the oven until the meat is falling-off-the-bone tender (2-4 hours).
9

Test the meat for doneness by twisting the point of a knife blade in the thigh meat.
10

When the duck is done, remove the pot from the oven and let it cool until the contents are warm.
11

Optional: Move the pot to your refrigerator and chill overnight.
12

Remove the duck pieces from the fat and brush off all the spices.
13

Strain & reserve the duck fat from the pot.
14

Pull off as much fat & skin from the pieces as possible (these can be crisped in a pan to make duck cracklins).
15

Pull the meat off the bones and shred it (ideally by hand). Cut up any stringy pieces with kitchen shears.
16

Load the meat and Dijon mustard into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment affixed.
17

Beat the mustard into the meat using the mixer.
18

Continue to mix, while slowly drizzling in some of the liquid reserved duck fat (approx. ¼-1/2 cup), until the meat clumps and has a shiny appearance.
19

Remove the rillettes from the bowl and pack them into dishes or jars. Press as much air out as possible.
20

Drizzle a thin layer of duck fat over the rillettes (enough to cover).
21

Chill the rillettes until the fat is solid, then serve chilled with toast or crackers. Jam and salad or microgreens are excellent accoutrements.

The rillettes will be even better if you let them rest in the fridge for a few days before serving.

Recipe & Video Demonstration by Lauren Cardella

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