Sous Vide Duck Confit

I've been meaning to make Duck Confit for a long time, but it took a while to decide I really wanted to stock up my freezer with duck legs and duck fat...  I finally took the plunge and picked up some gorgeous duck products a few months ago, and then it was on...

Obviously, given the way that I cook everything sous vide that can possibly be cooked sous vide, I used my favorite technique for the duck... I was going to just rig up a plan by combining assorted recipes that use an oven, but then I saw that Thomas Keller has a recipe for Duck Confit in his sous vide cookbook, Under Pressure, and I have a policy of always doing what Thomas Keller tells me to. (In a random quirk of weights and measures, compare the weight of my 4 duck legs to what Keller says they should approximately weigh... Heh.)

The legs go into the salt mixture to cure for 6 hours...

The legs are then rinsed and dried... (as are a collection of some of the herbs and garlic...  Thomas Keller wanted me to dig through there to also find 10 peppercorns to salvage and re-use, but I just used 10 new ones because seriously?)  When I received my gallon of duck fat, I vacuum-sealed it into 250g packets for storage.  I broke out two of these for my 4 duck legs...

The duck legs are vacuum-sealed with the herb sachet and the fat, then placed in a 180°F water bath for 8 hours... after which time they are incredibly tender and awesome...

I plan to use two of the legs in the recipe from Under Pressure (Confit of Liberty Pekin Duck Leg, Pommes Sarladaise, Fried Hen Egg, and Frisee Salad), so those were sealed up with half of the fat and tossed in the freezer.  The other two I kept out to play with...  

As with most sous-vide cooked meats, the initial result looks like a bit of a disaster... (The top leg below was separated at the joint to do something Keller-style... the bottom one I just pulled the meat off the bone and kept the skin in one sheet...)

I've got a pizza planned for one of them, and the other became a filling for a flatbread wrap (post to follow)...I pondered leaving skin on like Keller's recipe calls for, but for both the pizza and the wrap I wanted to be able to control the meat-to-skin ratio, so I pressed the skin, pressed it between two sheet pans (with silpats sandwiching the skin) and baked at around 350°F until crispy and perfect...

This was actually the first time I've ever eaten Duck Confit on its own (as opposed to having it as an ingredient in a dish at a restaurant), and I have to say it's pretty freaking delicious.  I totally get why people do this to duck legs...

Pictures of pizza to follow after dinner... 

UPDATE: So, it took a few days, but I finally got that duck confit pizza made, and it was fan-freaking-tastic...  I started with a par-cooked crust that I just rolled out and topped with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt...  (A couple huge bubbles popped up in the middle during this portion of cooking, so I reached in and snipped them with scissors...)

I'd actually wanted to make this pizza a few months ago when my friends brought me some gorgeous chanterelles, but cooking was not in the cards at the time, so I turned the chanterelles into a delicious Chanterelle Confit (based on this recipe, only I think I used veal demi-glace instead of chicken stock and I'm sure I omitted the apricots...)  In addition to this and the duck confit, I wanted some melty goodness, so I used some awesome fontina...

I topped the crust and baked until browned and beautiful (I switched from the highest temperature setting to a "broil" setting after a couple minutes to maximize melting...).

To add a little freshness, I topped with arugula after allowing to cool for a couple minutes...

This things was umami-tastic... so much so that the first bite forced me to pour a glass of a nice Pinot Noir to have with the rest of the pizza...  Since Duck Confit and Chanterelle Confit are both things I will have in the freezer for a while now, this is a perfect pizza to throw together as an impromptu appetizer for guests, with the only item to acquire being some fontina...