Confit Duck with Tomato and Parmesan Salad

For the Confit

  • 6 Duck Legs (Optionally Trimmed)
  • Duck Fat
  • 1 Orange
  • Fresh Thyme
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic
  • 100 g Sea Salt

For the Salad

  • 4 Large Tomatoes
  • 1 Small Red Onion
  • Parmesan

For the Dressing

  • 1 ltr Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 ltr Orange Juice
  • 100 g Caster Sugar

For the Confit

Start by juicing and zesting the orange into a bowl, roughly chop some thyme and crush the garlic then combine with orange add to the salt. The mix should make a kind of paste. Rub this all over the duck legs and arrange them in a single layer on a tray. Use all the salt and just kind of pack it all over. If you need more, then just make up some more mix.
Put in the fridge for about 24 hours.
After 24 hours rinse the salt off of the duck legs under running cold water, pat dry and place in a baking tray deep enough that the duck legs can be completely covered. Cover the duck legs in duck fat and cook in a low oven (about 120o) for about 4 hours. The legs should be cooked through and very tender. Place the duck legs in a storage container and strain the duck fat over them so they are fully submerged (The straining is just to remove any impurities from the fat). Allow them to cool in the fat.
They will keep in the fridge for a number of weeks. The salting acts as a preservative, and storing them fully submerged in the fat seals them (a bit like vac-packing).
When you want to eat them just take them out of the fat heat through. You can either place them on a dry pan/baking sheet and warm in a hot oven, or to ensure a nice crispy skin drop them into a hot (clean) fryer for a minute or two first.

For the Dressing

Place all the ingredients in a stainless steel pan and reduce to a syrup.

For the Salad

Half the tomatoes vertically then slice each half horizontally into 3/4mm slices, peel the onion and halve vertically, then thinly slice it vertically, toss the sliced tomato, sliced onion and parmesan shavings, arrange the salad on plates, top with the crispy warm duck legs and drizzle everything with the balsamic reduction.