Recipes

Duck Rillettes

Appetizer · Charcuterie · Duck · French · Pates and Terrines

Duck Rillettes
Prep 20 minutes, plus 4–8 hours
Cook 2 hours, plus overnight
Serves About 5 cups
Level Easy

Duck legs rubbed with thyme, salt and ginger, simmered in stock until tender, shredded fine with Armagnac, orange zest and a pinch of clove, and sealed under their own fat.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Pâtés and Terrines section and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds duck legs
  • ¼ cup finely chopped thyme, plus 4 sprigs
  • ¼ cup kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons ground ginger
  • 10 cups duck or chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, lightly crushed
  • 10 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 piece (2 inches) ginger, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons Armagnac or brandy
  • 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup duck fat
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Toast points and pickles, to serve

Directions

  1. Rub the duck legs with the chopped thyme, salt and ground ginger. Cover and chill 4–8 hours.
  2. Brush off the rub. Simmer the duck with the thyme sprigs, stock, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves and sliced ginger, partly covered, over medium-low heat until very tender, 1½–2 hours. Cool in the pan, then chill overnight.
  3. Lift off the solid fat and keep it. Discard the skin, bones and gristle, and shred the meat fine.
  4. Mix the meat with ¼ cup of the strained stock, the Armagnac, parsley, zest, cloves, and salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Pack into a 1-quart dish or five 6-ounce ramekins.
  6. Melt the reserved fat with the 1 cup duck fat, pour over, and chill until solid. Serve with toast points and pickles.

Notes

Source Adapted from “Duck Rillettes,” Saveur. The source says it keeps 2 weeks refrigerated.

Food safety The duck-fat seal slows drying and oxidation; it does not stop Listeria, which grows in the cold. Refrigerate, and treat the old practice of keeping confit for months under fat as history rather than instructions.

The Pâtés and Terrines section’s Rillettes and Potted Meats page (/pates-and-terrines/rillettes-and-potted/) covers the history and technique behind this dish.

The photo The photograph is a stand-in: goose rillettes, not duck.