Gingergirl: French influence to spice up dinner time

Welcome to all about food. Time for a little French influence this week!

Food gifts are my favourite but I suppose that’s no big surprise! Preserved duck, or confit de canard, is a traditional method of curing, cooking and preserving duck or goose legs and thighs in their own fat enabling them to be preserved and stored for long periods of time. Once tinned, the duck can be stored for up to four years.

A popular way of cooking duck confit is to simply dice some potatoes and sit in a roasting dish, remove most of the fat from the duck legs (chill or freeze the fat for future roast potatoes) place the duck on a rack above the potatoes and roast at a high temperature for approximately twenty minutes.

Serving it with lentils is also a big hit in my house, I use puy lentils as I like the texture but any green lentils will do.

Duck Confit with puy lentils

Serves 6
6 large duck confit legs
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot roughly chopped
The juice of four lemons
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Sea salt and fresh black pepper
2 whole cloves of garlic
Olive oil
1 bay leaf
500g of puy lentils
Fresh parsley chopped

* Pre-heat the oven to 220ºc. Put the lentils into a large saucepan, cover with water and add the onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf and thyme. Bring the lentils to the boil and simmer for fifteen minutes or until the lentils are al dente.

* As the lentils are cooking, remove the duck from the fat and roast on a grill pan for fifteen minutes or until the duck skin is crisp.

* Drain the lentils and remove the vegetables and herbs. Drizzle the lentils with a little olive oil, add the fresh lemon juice, parsley and season.

* Place the lentils on each plate and sit a duck leg on top.

CONTACT GINGERGIRL
www.gingergirl.ie
email: helen@gingergirl.ie
Gingergirl aka Helen Keown is an artisan food producer who produces a range of handmade luxury jams, preserves and chutneys made from local, seasonal or organic ingredients. Helen’s produce is available nationwide from independent food emporiums and is also available at selected food delis across Europe.
Letters to ‘gingergirl’ c/o The Tipperary Star, Friar Street, Thurles, Co Tipperary.
You can follow gingergirl’s on Twitter – under gingergirlfood or on Facebook – under ‘gingergirl’.