The mayor’s wife sent over a giant organic savoy cabbage from her father’s garden, and along with the generous gift, she told me how she makes her favourite soup from duck confit.
Confit is a traditional French dish of slow cooked duck in its own fat. The end result is a super soft, tender and flavourful meat that can be used in a multitude of dishes.
Beans are a natural pairing. The subtle taste of the cabbage, with the robust flavour of the meat, makes this a comfort food for the locals in my village of Capestang.
The key to the success of this soup is organic local ingredients. I scan the open air markets for the Biological traders. I like to find the ugliest carrots and potatoes for my soup, the ones that are anything but the perfect supermarket vegetables, they are not going to win ‘best in show’ but they are definitely not genetically modified.
I leave the skin on my potatoes and carrots for extra nutrients. being organic, I know i don’t have to worry about pesticides. I give them a good scrub, cut them into pieces and call it day.
I cored the cabbage to clean, it placed it face down in salty water in the sink. All the little critters floated to the top. I then broke the leaves apart with my hands. and rinsed them, and sliced them for the soup. If the bugs like it, I know I sure will.
Ingredients:
- 2 duck confit
- 2 onions diced
- 3-4 garlic
- 4 carrots bite sized pieces
- 2 litres of chicken stock
- 3 potatoes
- 1 can navy beans
- 1 savoy cabbage cored and thinly sliced
- 1 tbs. thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Warm duck confit in pan. Here in France you can buy them at Lidl for 3€ already cooked to perfection in its own fat. But, if you don’t have that privilege here is a recipe to make it from scratch. I added in some duck fat I already had in the fridge to , but if you don’t have any, use bacon fat and keep the bacon for the top when serving.
- Brown onions and garlic
- Add in carrots and saute for a few minutes
- Add in all the herbs, and chicken stock. (bouillon cubes and water also works)
- Cook for 1 hour
- Take the meat off the bones and put back in the soup and discard the rest. I even eat the fat, gross I know, but I can’t help myself. I have this theory since eating meat again to utilize every part of an animal. After all, the duck gave up his life for this divine meal. Duck is one of the only fats that doesn’t raise your cholesterol, so manger!
- Add in beans, potatoes and cabbage, and cook for another 30 minutes until veggies are soft
- Serve with crusty bread
Et voila! The best part, my kids ate it!
