Duck Confit Cornbread Waffles with Cane Syrup Gastrique

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A New Orleans brunch showpiece built on a make-ahead trick: duck legs are salt-cured overnight, then slow-roasted submerged in their own fat until the meat slumps off the bone. Refrigerated in that fat, they keep for a week — so brunch itself is nothing more than crisping a leg, whisking a buttermilk cornbread batter, and frying an egg. A bourbon-spiked cane syrup gastrique cuts the richness with just enough vinegar bite.

Ingredients

• 4 duck legs (leg-thigh quarters, about 3 lb total)
• 3 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cups rendered duck fat (about 32 oz), or 3 cups duck fat plus 1 cup mild olive oil

• 1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 5 tbsp warm rendered duck fat (from the confit) or melted unsalted butter
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• nonstick spray or extra duck fat, for the waffle iron

• 2/3 cup Steen's cane syrup (or dark maple syrup)
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp bourbon
• 1 tsp Louisiana-style hot sauce
• 1 tbsp cold unsalted butter
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• 4 large eggs
• 1 tbsp duck fat or butter, for frying the eggs
• 2 tbsp sliced scallion greens or chopped chives
• flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Day 1, cure the duck: Combine the kosher salt, brown sugar, black pepper, and cayenne in a small bowl. Pat the duck legs very dry and rub the cure evenly over all surfaces, using slightly more on the meaty thigh. Lay the legs skin side up in a glass dish, tuck the thyme, garlic, and bay leaves around them, cover, and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours (do not exceed 24 or the meat turns hammy).
2. Day 1 or 2, confit: Heat the oven to 275°F. Rinse the cure off the legs under cool water and pat them bone dry with paper towels — surface moisture will make the fat spit. Arrange the legs snugly in a single layer in a deep baking dish or small Dutch oven along with the rinsed garlic, thyme, and bay.
3. Warm the duck fat in a saucepan over low heat just until fully melted, then pour it over the legs. The fat should cover them by at least 1/2 inch; top up with olive oil if you are short. Cover tightly with a lid or a double layer of foil.
4. Roast for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until a paring knife slides into the thigh with no resistance and the meat has pulled back about 1/2 inch from the drumstick bone. The fat should be barely trembling, never boiling — if you hear active bubbling, drop the oven to 250°F.
5. Cool the legs in their fat to room temperature, about 1 hour, then refrigerate them still submerged. They will keep 1 week (up to 3 weeks fully covered in fat) and improve after at least one overnight rest. Scrape the pale duck jelly from the bottom of the fat before using it and save it for beans or greens.
6. Brunch morning: Set the legs out for 20 minutes, then lift them from the solidified fat and scrape off all but a thin film. Reserve 5 tablespoons of the fat for the waffle batter and another tablespoon for the eggs. Heat the oven to 425°F.
7. Make the gastrique: In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer the cane syrup, cider vinegar, and bourbon for 5 to 6 minutes, until it thickens slightly and coats a spoon. Off the heat, whisk in the hot sauce, cold butter, and a pinch of salt. Keep warm.
8. Make the waffle batter: Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a second bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the egg yolks and the warm duck fat. In a third bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks with a hand mixer, about 90 seconds. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined, fold in the scallions, then fold in the whites in two additions. Let rest 10 minutes.
9. Crisp the duck: Place the legs skin side up on a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 425°F for 15 to 18 minutes, until the skin is deep mahogany, blistered, and audibly crisp. Rest on the rack — never on a plate, which steams the skin.
10. While the duck crisps, cook the waffles: Heat a waffle iron to medium-high and grease it well. Ladle in batter and cook 4 to 5 minutes per waffle, until the steam slows and the exterior is deep golden and firm. Hold finished waffles directly on the oven rack alongside the duck for up to 10 minutes; do not stack them.
11. Fry the eggs: Melt the reserved tablespoon of duck fat in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack in the eggs and cook 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, basting the whites with the hot fat, until the whites are set with lacy edges and the yolks are still liquid.
12. Plate: Set a hot cornbread waffle on each plate, lean a crisped duck leg against it, and slide a fried egg on top. Spoon the warm gastrique over the duck and waffle, scatter with scallion greens, and finish with flaky salt and cracked pepper. Break the yolk at the table.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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