Duck Rillettes

I took a whole duck and I washed it well. First of all, I carefully removed the meat from the chest with a knife. I don't use it for rillettes, I freeze it for another time or I quickly make some duck breast in the pan.

Next, I skin the duck (I can't be bothered to skin the wings :).

I place the fat/skin in a separate bowl, see below how I use it.

Cut the remaining duck carcass into medium pieces.

You can use it immediately for making rillettes, but it's tastier if you salt it, pepper it and leave it in the fridge overnight.

I did so - I sprinkled 1 teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground pepper, covered the bowl with cling film and left it in the fridge overnight.

In fact, I always start cooking the pate in the evening - I take the above steps, I marinate the meat and keep in the fridge, together with the fat, which I placed in a separate bowl.

On the 2nd day, I actually get to work - I remove the duck fat from the fridge, cut it into medium pieces and melt in a Dutch oven with half a glass of water.

We cook over medium heat and we mix periodically to get a good amount of melted duck fat and some delicious and crunchy greaves.

Remove the greaves, place on a paper towel and enjoy them if you like.

Pour the duck lard into a cup or bowl and set aside.

Prepare the vegetables and spices for the recipe.

I stuffed the allspice berries in the onion but, to be honest, I won't use them next time. I also used black peppercorns, but I recommend ground pepper. Kids don't really like "surprises/aromatic bombs" in the pate. This way, you don't have to look for them among the pieces of meat.

Now place all the duck meat (the carcass cut into pieces) in a 3-4 liter Dutch oven.

Add 2 onions, 1 carrot, bay leaf, rosemary and thyme sprigs, garlic.

Pour over 1 glass of water and 1 glass of white wine.

Mix well with a spoon and place the pan in the preheated oven at 160 C for 3-4 hours, until the meat comes off the bones easily.

This is what it looks like when it's ready. The liquid evaporates and the meat cooks in its own fat.

Periodically, you can mix in the pan with a spoon.

I left it even a little longer, but I won't do the same next time - the picture is to show you how it shouldn't be.

If you brown it too much, the meat dries more and it's not so soft and tender.

After the oven, let cool a bit, then separate the meat from the bones.

Place it in a bowl, together with the juice that was released in the pan, plus the cooked vegetables, if you can still find them :)

Don't let the meat cool for too long, it will harden and you won't be able to remove it fast and easy.

An option would be to cook in a little butter 1 finely chopped onion and some mushrooms, until they brown nicely, and add them to the cooked meat.

But, as I wrote above, it's optional, according to your preferences.

In a small saucepan, flambe the 2 tablespoons of cognac - that is, place over heat and, when it comes to the boil, carefully light it (the kitchen hood must be shut off). You can't see the flame here, but there is one :) Pour this flambéed cognac over the meat in the bowl.

I recommend grinding the whole meat, vegetable and mushroom mixture in a food processor or a blender. Don't use the highest speed and it's better to do batches because we want to get a pate-like texture with small strands of meat and not a smooth paste!

It's often recommended to grind the mixture using 2 forks, but it's a lot simpler with the blender.

Place the pate in small jars, ceramic shapes, bowls etc.

Press it down as much as possible with a spoon and leave about 1cm from the edges.

Pour over the duck fat we made in the first steps. Cover the pate completely.

Refrigerate until the fat thickens, then cover with lids or plastic wrap.

It's usually recommended to keep in the fridge for at least 2-3 days (even a week!) before serving. This way the flavours blend properly and the taste is richer. We couldn't wait longer than 2 days :)

It's wonderful served with some pickled cucumbers, spread on some fresh bread and with a glass of good red wine...

Enjoy!