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Epicurious

Navy Beans with Duck-Leg Confit

This dish has much of the flavor of a cassoulet but is considerably simpler, because it uses ready-cooked duck-leg confit, which is obtainable today in most good markets and can also be ordered online.

Ingredients

1/4 cup dried navy, Great Northern, or cannellini beans
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 carrot, chopped
1/2 rib celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and slivered
About 3/4 cup duck or chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 duck-leg confit

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put the beans to soak overnight or during the workday in water to cover by several inches. Or use the “quick soak” method: put the beans in a pot with 2 cups water; bring to a boil, let boil for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour. When ready to cook, add the aromatic vegetables to the beans and their soaking water, plus about 1/2 cup of the stock, and cook at a lively simmer for almost 1 hour, or until just tender (taste to check), adding more stock as necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Set the duck-leg confit on top of the beans, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the duck is warmed through and has released its fatty flavor into the beans

  2. Second Round

    Step 2

    If there is any left over, add it to a Winter Bean Soup (page 93).

The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Copyright © 2009 by Judith Jones. Published by Knopf. All Rights Reserved. Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the author of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food and the coauthor with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, and has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.
TagsCasseroleFrenchEuropeanCannellini BeanWhite BeanBean and LegumeVegetableNavy BeanDuckPoultryMainDinnerNut FreeGluten FreeDairy FreeSimmerCookbooks
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