A rillette is a French preparation of meat or fish, seasoned and cooked in its own fat, making it rich and delicious beyond belief! This Duck Rillette recipe was created by our Estate Chef to accompany our charcuterie platter and also makes an elegant spread for sandwiches, pasta stuffing, or as a dip for crudité.

Ingredients
4 duck legs
2 cups kosher salt
4-5 cups duck fat, melted
1 bunch thyme
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 shallot
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp thyme, chopped

Start by liberally seasoning the duck legs with the salt, letting it remain on the duck overnight whilst refrigerated.

The next morning, preheat your oven to 225F and brush excess salt off duck legs. Arrange in a shallow baking pan, adding the thyme sprigs, pepper, shallot and garlic cloves. Pour the melted duck fat over legs and cover with aluminum foil.  Place pan in the oven and bake for about 2-3 hours until well cooked. When done, remove from oven and let legs cool in the duck fat.

Once cooled, pull the meat off the leg bones, discarding pan ingredients, but reserve 1 cup of the duck fat. Place the picked meat into a Kitchen-Aid mixer bowl, add duck fat and a teaspoon of chopped thyme, using the paddle attachment to mash the mixture together on low speed. Once the mixture is fully combined, remove from bowl and place it in a shallow baking pan to cool.

After it has cooled, transfer to a jar or shape into a loaf for easy spreading. Serve with grilled French bread, breadsticks or crudité of your choice.

Enjoy!