"Did I hear you say confit, Mama? Get your unsightly purple-toed horse feet away from me....I just can't bring myself to look! I have high tolerances, but I really must draw the line somewhere! Just kidding, Mama! Now bring me some confit and hurry it up!"
When I went to bed last evening, there were two chicken legs and thighs hanging out in my refrigerator, corrupting the other contents of my refrigerator, so I was eager to come up with an idea to make sure they were on a dinner plate this evening. But in what capacity was my quandary.
I couldn't get the leg out of my mind...perhaps it is because I have a thing for legs..don't tell anyone, though! I wanted to do something I had never tried before, as there are so many traditional ways to cook a chicken leg and I've pretty much tried them all. When I thought leg..I thought about a duck leg..perhaps because I had poultry on the brain, or perhaps it was from lack of sleep. Regardless, I remember seeing duck confit on menus. I have never tried, because I can't eat duck. It doesn't do much for me, personally. (no offense to anyone that does enjoy duck). Then I thought if you can confit duck, you could probably confit chicken! I turned to the Google for advice...Google never, ever lets me down!
Chicken ready for the oven!
Basically, you generously season the meat with pepper (and salt if you are so inclined), garlic and herbs. It is then poached in fat (I used olive oil) at a very low temperature for several hours. I cooked at 225 for an hour and then 350 for another hour and forty-five minutes. It was heavenly!
Cooked confit!
I will be the first to admit that I was rather skeptical once I had read about the method. However, this cooking process created meat that was so succulent and abundant with flavor. You could serve whole, however a lot of the recipes I found instructed you to remove the meat from the bone, shred and place atop greens or pasta. I chose to shred and mix in a parmesan risotto. Here are the risotto components, as well my side of yellow squash.
Risotto, peas, garlic, parmesan, onions, stock, thyme, wine and yellow squash.
I was quite pleased with the results. It was tremendously flavorful, super easy and probably one of the cheapest meals I have ever prepared. The only down-fall is the time involved in the poaching process. But, if you're going to be around the house, you can slap it together, slap it in the oven and fuh-getta-bout-it! In my family we notoriously 'slap' things together..my gram was best at 'slapping' stuff in the oven :-) No basting or baby-sitting required. Here's dinner...
Can I get another Amen! Amen!!
I garnished with parmesan cheese and some fresh thyme. It truly is worth trying....Not something you will soon regret. A dish packed with flavor...I was really trying to get the whole flavor point across..I hope I have succeeded..., not to mention, it will still leave your wallet packed with cash! Hahahahah!! E.V., aka Sweet Pea, aka Peavilicious, aka Squibbles and Bits, aka Squeebs, aka The Big 'E' really liked it...she's my biggest critic...literally! :-) Have a great evening!!
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