Confit

Chef Efren’s description of making a confit was so simple that I had to try it. In France duck is common in all the markets. One can buy duck legs or duck breast easily but here I see only whole frozen ducks in the market and then only occasionally. The duck legs are cooked slowly, entirely submerged in duck fat. Something that is also readily available in French markets.

I had no duck but I had a turkey thigh in the freezer and no duck fat but I do have olive oil, an acceptable substitute according to Efren.

I placed the thigh in a deep pot just large enough to hold it. I added enough olive oil to submerge it, added herbs, then brought it to a boil. Once hot I lowered the temperature until it was barely simmering. After four hours it turned out tender and flavorful and delicious. It would probably work well in a slow cooker or 200 degree oven too. I’m going to try it again with chicken gizzards.

According to my web research this was one way meats were preserved before refrigeration. Once cooked for a long time there are no longer bacteria in the meat. If it is left totally submerged in the fat so that bacteria has no access to it, it will keep for months on a cupboard shelf. The meat could be taken out a bit at a time to be used.
I’m not planning to keep meat on a kitchen shelf but I did save the oil to use another day.