Duck parmentier

Shredded duck confit with shallots and thyme, topped with smooth mashed potatoes and a golden crust. The duck fat in the mash gives the potatoes extra flavour. Delicious with a green salad and mustard vinaigrette.

Serves: 4 people
Preparation: approximately 25 minutes
Cooking: approximately 50–60 minutes, including 5 minutes of resting
Total time: approximately 1 hour and 15–25 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 confit duck legs, yielding approximately 500–600 g of meat without skin or bones
• 1 kg floury potatoes
• 3 shallots
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 100 ml chicken stock, preferably low-salt
• 150 ml whole milk
• 4 tbsp duck fat, from the confit legs
• 15 g butter
• 30 g breadcrumbs
• Nutmeg, to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven
   Preheat the oven to 200 °C conventional or 180 °C fan. Have an ovenproof cast-iron frying pan approximately 26–28 cm in diameter, a saucepan, a small saucepan and a potato masher or ricer ready.
2. Shred the duck
   Remove the legs from the fat. If the fat around the legs is solid, place them in a pan with the clinging fat and heat gently until the fat melts. If necessary, let the legs cool briefly until you can handle them.

   Reserve 4 tablespoons of duck fat: 2 for the filling and 2 for the mash. Drain the legs thoroughly. Remove the skin, bones and any tendons. Pull the meat into coarse pieces; aim for approximately 500–600 g of meat.

3. Chop the aromatics
   Peel and finely chop the shallots. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Strip the thyme leaves from the sprigs.
4. Peel the potatoes
   Peel the potatoes and cut them into evenly sized pieces. Place them in the saucepan and add enough cold water to just cover them.

Method

1. Boil the potatoes
   Add some salt to the water and bring to the boil. Cook the potatoes for approximately 20 minutes, until tender enough to pierce easily with a knife. Meanwhile, make the duck filling.
2. Make the filling
   Put 2 tablespoons of duck fat in the cast-iron frying pan and heat gradually over a moderate heat. Cook the shallots for approximately 5 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for 1 minute.

   Add the duck meat and stock. Heat gently for approximately 5 minutes, stirring regularly. The filling should be moist, without a layer of liquid stock at the bottom of the pan. If necessary, let it reduce a little longer.

   Season with pepper. Taste before adding salt: duck confit is often already quite salty. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Make the mash
   Drain the potatoes and let them steam dry briefly. Meanwhile, warm the milk in the small saucepan.

   Mash the potatoes finely or pass them through a potato ricer. Stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of duck fat into the warm potatoes. Then gradually add the warm milk until you have a smooth but firm mash. You may not need all the milk. Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt.

4. Assemble the parmentier
   Spread the duck meat evenly over the bottom of the cast-iron pan. Spoon the mash on top in portions and gently spread it out, keeping the meat beneath the mash.

   Use a fork to make shallow grooves in the surface. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and dot with small pieces of butter.

5. Bake the parmentier
   Place the pan in the centre of the oven and bake the parmentier for 20–25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling is piping hot throughout. Leave it in the oven a little longer if necessary.
6. Rest and serve
   Remove the pan from the oven using oven gloves. Let the parmentier rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a green salad and mustard vinaigrette.

Cooking with cast iron

Make the duck filling and assemble the parmentier in the same cast-iron pan. The pan then goes straight into the oven and keeps the dish warm at the table for a long time. Place it on a heatproof trivet; both the main handle and the helper handle become hot too.

Tip

Use fully cooked confit de canard from a tin, jar or vacuum pack. Drain the excess fat thoroughly from the meat and add the measured duck fat to the filling and mash as directed. This keeps the dish moist without making it greasy.