Introduction:
Cooking with duck fat is apparently something kind of rare in the U.S. and I can't comprehend why. It tastes excellent, has to be better for you than Crisco, and makes for a much better base for things like fried potatoes.
I saw this New Scandinavian Cooking dude on TV making something like this, and decided to come up with my own version which was close to his, yet practical for an American.
I only make things with duck fat after I've cooked a duck and poured away the grease/fat BEFORE I put a glaze on it, but I think you can get the fat itself from a meat market. I should ask sometime.
Ingredients:
- Some chicken quarters, chicken legs, (or if you are fancy) duck legs or quarters
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Whole garlic
- Thyme (not fresh is fine, but ground or powdered is not)
- At least a quart of duck fat (I used the fat from one cooked duck that I had left in the fridge about a week. NOTE: Once the grease/fat congeals in the fridge, you want the good yellow stuff once it separates. Adding the clear-ish brown stuff may add desired or UNdesired flavor.)
DAY 1 - STEP 1:
Add about a tablespoon of salt and pepper to the raw meat in a dish or pan you can put in the oven later. Slice up about 2 cloves of garlic and throw the slices onto the meat. Then, sprinkle on the thyme. Cover with foil and throw in the fridge for AT LEAST 12 HOURS.
Here is a picture of the raw meat:
DAY 2 - STEP 2:
Remove meat from fridge. Heat your duck fat in a saucepan on the stove on medium for only about 5 minutes. Doesn't take long to melt down. Pour the duck fat all over the raw chicken. Cover chicken with foil and put in oven @ 200 (yes, two hundred) degrees for 7 HOURS.
STEP 3 (DAY 2?):
If you must eat this now when it comes out of the oven, IT'S READY NOW! Or you could eat some (or save it all for later, as I usually do and eat something else on day 2) and throw it in the fridge for a couple of MONTHS. You can even leave it out on a cool counter-top in a cool room for WEEKS at this stage.
STEP 4 (Day 3):
So, let's assume you let your oven-ready container with the meat in the fridge after day 2. Whenever you take it out, it's going to look kind of gross.
Take the chicken out of the fat, and remove any excess globs of it with a papertowel. Leave some on though, as we want a nice little pool of melted fat in the finished product. Heat the oven to 325 and put your chilled meat on a fresh baking sheet, then cook for 15-20 minutes. When it is done, or you went ahead and ate at step 2, the meat will look like this..
..it will also be unreal tender. Parts such as tendons you usually eat around will simply melt in your mouth. The combined flavors just have to be tasted.