Duck Rillettes

Ingredients

• Spice Rub:
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• Potpourri:
• 12 cloves garlic
• 6 (1/4 inch thick) slices fresh ginger
• 1 orange, zest cut into thin strips
• 1 bunch fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 whole duck
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon brandy (such as Armagnac)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line a 9×13 baking dish with 2 pieces of aluminum foil.

Stir kosher salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, and dried thyme together in a bowl. Mix garlic, ginger, orange zest strips, fresh thyme, and bay leaves together in another bowl.

Season duck all over, inside and out, with about 2/3 of the kosher salt mixture. Fill duck cavity with garlic mixture.

Place duck, breast-side up, into prepared baking dish and season with remaining salt mixture. Wrap duck tightly in aluminum foil.

Roast in the preheated oven until meat pulls away from the bones, 5 to 6 hours. Cool duck with its accumulated juices, wrapped in aluminum foil, to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight.

Pick meat from bones and place in a bowl.

Spoon all accumulated juices in the foil into a saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Cook until hot throughout; strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Let fat and stock separate; transfer fat from the top to another bowl.

Mash duck meat, 3 tablespoons duck fat, 2 tablespoons duck stock, butter, brandy, parsley, chives, Dijon mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, and ground black pepper together in a bowl with a wooden spoon; transfer to a sealable container, press down, and drizzle a little duck fat over the top. Sprinkle thyme leaves, black pepper, and orange zest over the top. Seal the container and refrigerate for the flavors to blend, 1 to 3 days.