duck pithivier

I was served a YouTube video from Bruno Albouze about how to make a duck pithivier. Knowing how much I love a big, complex baking project, I undertook this one! I even bought a subscription to his site so I could get the full recipe. unfortunately, the recipe had several errors and omissions in it, so I had to do a bit of back-filling in order to execute the whole recipe. Despite this, and my inability to source foie gras (and my forgetting to buy chicken livers!), the recipe turned out excellent and Andy has requested I make it again next year.

The first step is to make the puff pastry and the pie crust (this is the bottom crust, which is more resistant to absorbing juices and thus doesn’t get as soggy). Nothing special here if you’ve made these before. The next step is to confit the duck legs, all 4 pounds of them! This is surprisingly easy: dry marinate them in thyme, garlic, and salt overnight in the fridge. Then shake off the thyme and garlic, and bake at a low heat for about 3.5 hours with 1.5 pounds of duck fat. Let this cool and then drain on a wire rack. Shred the meat from the bones, reserving the bones. You can mix some of the duck in with the ground pork, spices, and heavy cream. The rest, save for the pithivier.

Then you can make the vegetable filling, which is pretty straight forward: shallot, garlic, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots all sauteed together. Then line a bowl with plastic wrap and assemble the filling: some pork stuffing, duck, and vegetables, repeating these layers until you’ve filled the bowl. I lined the bowl with cabbage leaves as well, to try to keep a bit of the juices from the puff pastry.

Roast the duck bones in some duck fat and then add the aromatics, including Madeira wine and tomato paste. Cook until reduced, and then add a liter of chicken stock. Cook this for about three hours until it reduces significantly. Mount with butter and a some Madeira with cornstarch. This is the duck sauce.

Assemble the pithivier, by inverting the stuffing on top of the pie crust. Brush the edges with water and then lay on top the puff pastry. Brush with an egg wash, delicately cut the decorative pattern, and make a chimney in the top with a piping tip. Bake until done and serve warm with the sauce.