I’m off to Sicily tomorrow having only just gotten back from Amsterdam and judging in the 2025 World Steak Challenge. And I managed to squeeze a wedding in between this jetting around for good measure. But I felt the need to post before I run off again, so here is another recipe from my online cooking classes.

Confit is a French way of cooking and preserving meat long before refrigeration was invented.  First the meat is salted to draw out the moisture to help preserve it, then it is cooked submerged in duck fat like deep frying but at a low temperature until the meat is very tender.  I do have another confit recipe I published on here back in 2017, if you’d like to take a look as it shows a little more of the process.

This was an exercise on how to use up things you have in your fridge and freezer.   I had 2 duck legs in the freezer which I thawed out together with some duck fat.  I also had a small bottle of chipotle paste I wanted to use in the recipe and like many of my recipes I love the contrasts of textures and flavours. So the idea in my head of savoury meatiness of the duck is contrasting against the sweetness of the plum compote and the heat of the chilies in the chipotle paste. I also decided I would make some homemade French fries; which would be deep fried in the duck fat for extra flavour and then offered with a chipotle mayonnaise to dip them in.

Confit of Duck Mexican style serves 2

2 Raw Duck Legs 460-480 grams total

Confit Fat

Sprig of fresh thyme (from my garden)

650 ml Duck or goose fat

8 cloves garlic unpeeled

Chips cooked in duck fat

1 large baking potato cut into chips

Blanched in boiling water then deep fried in duck fat

Mexican plum sauce (see chefs notes)

4-5 Tbsp *Plum compote

2 teaspoons Chipotle paste

Chipotle Mayonnaise

4 Tbsp Mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Chipotle paste

1. Salt both sides of the duck legs and refrigerate for 24 hours.
2. Next day rinse off the salt then dry the duck legs well in paper towels.
3. Warm up the duck fat in a small deep saucepan and add the garlic and thyme.
4. Put the duck legs into the fat making sure they are fully submerged.
5. Cook it on the lowest setting you can to simmer (3) for up to 2 ¼ hours. The legs should be very tender. When cooked remove the legs and reserve.
6. Whilst the legs are cooking make the chipotle mayonnaise and Mexican plum sauce.
7. Blanch the chips in boiling salted water until half cooked then cool down in cold water and drain well. Drain the chips on paper towel.
8. Strain the duck fat into a different saucepan to remove the thyme and garlic (keep the garlic as a garnish).
9. Heat the duck fat until it reaches 170 C, and fry the chips in two batches until lightly brown. Drain well on paper towel and season lightly with sea salt.
10. Heat the duck in a hot oven to crisp the skin and then serve.

To Serve:

Place the a duck leg on each plate, together with half the chips on a plate.  Serve the plum sauce and the chipotle mayonnaise (in separate small containers). 

Chefs Notes:

I served the dish with plain steamed broccoli, but buy whatever looks good at your store. I made my plum compote to use with this recipe and the rest I can use with porridge or yogurt.