French Local Markets

some markets are open… for those allowed out briefly… keep safe everyone.

Sainte Foy la Grande open but for food retailers only.

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Damn - there was me wanting to buy a mattress, dining room chairs and roof insulation

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And not get your roof jet cleaned?

Ours had food stalls only yesterday.

Thanks - that was the final required item but obviously as anyone knows nobody can remember a list of 4 or more items as 3 is the absolute maximum.

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Only one of our several local markets is continuing (Decazeville, but not Rodez or Maurs). I don’t know why, but suspect it’s to support local small scale veg producteurs in the Lot Valley. Certainly , this must be safer than crowding into supermarkets.

Besides veg we also have ducks, and last week I ordered some cuisses de canard cru from a neighbouring village. I’m currently *confiting them with the following American(!) recipe whose marinade gives a far more complex and richer tasting result than that of any of our locals.

Enjoy!

I make confit de canard in my slow cooker, works marvellously.

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I have a slow cooker… what is your recipe … ??? :thinking:

I would also be interested to know the recipe I normally just buy the tin from Lidl.

I have found recently that confit shredded makes a fantastic filling for Chinese crispy duck pancakes.

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Get your duck legs, rub them with salt and wipe them, then rub them with a tablespoon of armagnac mixed with a teaspoon of tamari, some ginger and 5 spice powder. Put more salt only on the skin side. The next day pack the legs into the heated-up slow cooker on, skin side out, and switch it on, leave it for the night or day (I’m sorry not to be more precise, I do it either overnight or over the day so it is ready when I get back from work.) Let it cool down and then stick it in the fridge. When you want to eat it just bung the legs under the grill or in a pan so the skin crisps up.
You can drop the tamari ginger and 5 spice, I just happen to like them - you can use pepper and nutmeg if you like instead, it is good. You can put in garlic or bayleaves or rosemary. Or just whatever you like really.

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After reading your recipe I went into my local butcher and asked him if he had duck legs. He replied “No, I always walk like this”.

Ha Ha Ha! Boom! Boom!

© 1975 Basil Brush and Associates, all rights reserved.

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If like me, you don’t have a slow cooker, you can confit the traditional way in duck fat on top of the stove in a cast iron casserole (duck leg sellers also have gras de canard). The important things are to completely cover the legs in fat and to keep the cooking temperature low (otherwise your confit will be closer to biltong). Recommendations vary between 80° and 120°C; I find three hours at 90-100° gives tender results that are still beautifully moist. These can be preserved in the fridge for a couple of months, covered in their fat, or in a vacuum pack.

The coming week’s kitchen projects include batch smoking a duck breast, some duck sausage and a chicken. In case you wondered, no, I’m not vegetarian…

Lastly, do any SF people dry age steak?

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The Linda Mccartney brand does a vegan version which my (vegan) niece served me last week. I don’t normally bother with meat substitutes, but this was great so I am working on a recipe using setan…

In the slow cooker the legs exude (lovely word, ugh) enough fat to cover themselves completely, there’s no need to add more.

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Is it economical to make Confit? I normally pay €9.89 for 4 legs of Confit. I hope it is economical as I will get the cauldron fired up!

image

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I will get out my slow cooker.

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I don’t know if you’re buying tinned or vacuum sealed confit, but the former is usually a far inferior product (look at the difference in the skin); also I assume fresh prices have regional variations, I’m in SW duck territory (aka the Aveyron) and pay around 14€ for half a dozen big fresh duck legs (sold by weight). I also know that my producteur in the next village but one doesn’t use industrial farming methods, if driving past his farm, one has to slow down because his hens are often pecking things on the roadside. The other advantage of making your own confit, as Vero indicated, is that you can tailor it to your own tastes.

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Thank you Vero…what heat setting please?

Welcome Sharyn… :relaxed:

I know you joined a while ago… but this is your first post and you raise a good question… :thinking:

( my slowcooker has low/high/auto .)…