Hachis Parmentier de Canard

I told a French friend I'd made a duck Hachis Parmentier and he reprimanded me. "You're meant to make it from the leftovers", he said. "I did", I implored. When I told him that a pack of six legs of confit had traveled all the way to Tahoe with us, he agreed that the two unused legs that made it all the way back to San Francisco again, 4 days later, could legitimately be classed as leftovers.



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I was inspired to make this by a meal we had in Paris at Le Bistro D'Henri . Fred also regularly orders a beef version of the same dish at Cafe Bastille . I didn't follow a recipe, I just made it up from the two versions I'd tried and after consulting with Fred. All it really is, in my case at least, is mashed potatoes, mixed with leftover meat, topped with cheese so you can experiment with different ingredients.

Ingredients
2 large Russett Potatoes
a clove minced garlic
1 dollop creme fraiche
2 legs duck confit
1 tbsp butter, diced
Salt & Pepper to taste.
A cup of grated Gruyere

Method
Peel and quarter the potatoes. Boil until tender.
At the same time, pan fry your duck confit until the skin is crispy and the meat is heated through. Take care not to over cook.
Take the duck confit from the pan. Remove the meat from the bone and shred into small pieces. Include the crispy fat skin if it is to your personal taste.
Gently fry the garlic in the remaining duck fat about 5 minutes until soft.
Mash potatoes together with creme fresh, butter and seasoning.
Stir in the duck and garlic and mix together well.
Put into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the top with cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350F with 5 minutes under the grill/broiler at the end.

It passed the Fred Test with Flying Colours!

Hachis Parmentier de Canard