Goose Or Duck Rillettes Recipes

DUCK RILLETTES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 150ºC/gas 2.
• Place the duck legs and fat in a roasting tray, season, then smash and tuck in the garlic and 3 thyme sprigs.
• Cover with foil and roast for 2 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove from the oven.
• Once cool, discard the skin and shred the meat off the bone.
• Roughly chop and mix in the pistachios and sultanas, then add the vinegar and remaining thyme leaves. Add enough cooking fat to bind the mixture - this should be about 2 tablespoons. Season to taste.
• Delicious served with sourdough toast.

DUCK RILLETTES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line a 9x13 baking dish with 2 pieces of aluminum foil.
• Stir kosher salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, and dried thyme together in a bowl. Mix garlic, ginger, orange zest strips, fresh thyme, and bay leaves together in another bowl.
• Season duck all over, inside and out, with about 2/3 of the kosher salt mixture. Fill duck cavity with garlic mixture.
• Place duck, breast-side up, into prepared baking dish and season with remaining salt mixture. Wrap duck tightly in aluminum foil.
• Roast in the preheated oven until meat pulls away from the bones, 5 to 6 hours. Cool duck with its accumulated juices, wrapped in aluminum foil, to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight.
• Pick meat from bones and place in a bowl.
• Spoon all accumulated juices in the foil into a saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Cook until hot throughout; strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Let fat and stock separate; transfer fat from the top to another bowl.
• Mash duck meat, 3 tablespoons duck fat, 2 tablespoons duck stock, butter, brandy, parsley, chives, Dijon mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, and ground black pepper together in a bowl with a wooden spoon; transfer to a sealable container, press down, and drizzle a little duck fat over the top. Sprinkle thyme leaves, black pepper, and orange zest over the top. Seal the container and refrigerate for the flavors to blend, 1 to 3 days.

GOOSE (OR DUCK) RILLETTES

Steps:

• Break up the carcass and place it with the other parts and the cubed pork in a large pot with a cupful (or more, as necessary) of water. Add the seasonings, cover, and cook very slowly, stirring often, for at least 2 1/2 hours.
• When the meat separates easily from the bones and the liquid has almost evaporated, remove the bones and tear the meat into short strands with your fingers, mixing it well with the fat, skin and giblets. The texture should be coarse and with separate threads, rather than more homogenized like a pâté.
• Fill small baking or custard dishes with the mixture and any remaining liquid, leave it to cool, and then cover it with a layer of goose or duck fat. I use small containers which will each serve two to four people as an amuse-bouche before a meal. They can be frozen.

DUCK RILLETTE

Steps:

• Scatter a handful of salt with the bay leaves and half the thyme in a wide dish. Lay the duck legs on top, skin side up. Sprinkle with more salt and leave in the fridge overnight.
• Next day, scrape off the excess salt;keep the thyme and bay leaves. Preheat oven to 170°C Season the duck with black pepper, place in a roasting tin with the herbs from the earlier stage.
• Melt 600g of the duck fat and pour in to cover the duck. Heat the pan and bring the fat to a simmer. Carefully transfer to the oven and cook for 2-2.5 hours until the meat falls off the bone. Remove and leave to cool.
• Remove the duck legs from the fat and pat dry with kitchen paper. Strip the meat from the bone using two forks. Melt the remaining duck fat and add about 100g to moisten the meat. mix well and season if necessary. Divide the mixture between sterilised jars, pressing down to remove air pockets.
• Pour the last of the melted fat on top to seal. Pick the leaves from the remaining thyme sprigs and sprinkle over the fat.
• Seal the jars tightly and store in the fridge for up to a fortnight.

DUCK-CONFIT RILLETTES

Steps:

• Shred the duck meat, discarding the skin and bones. Place the shredded meat in a food processor and add 1 tablespoon of duck fat. Pulse the machine and add enough of the remaining fat so the rillettes hold together. Season the rillettes with plenty of pepper and serve with toasted country bread. Alternatively, spoon the rillettes into ramekins, top with a layer of duck fat, and store in the refrigerator. They will keep for several weeks.