Easy Duck Confit

Duck or goose confit (con-fee) is one of the most luxurious
of foods in French cuisine. Gently cured duck legs
bathed in their own fat and slowly cooked to
falling-off-the-bone perfection.
Then the skin is crisped in a pan or oven,
giving you the sinful combination
of silky meat and crackling skin.

Ingredients:
Duck legs (at least one per person)
Salt

Directions:
Pat the duck legs dry with paper towels. Find a needle or a very pointy knife and prick the skin of the duck all over. Focus on the skin that covers fat. Do your best to avoid piercing the meat itself by pricking the skin at an angle over the drumstick and the center of the thigh. You are doing this to give the fat that lies under the skin a place to seep out – if you don’t do this, it will be far more difficult to get crispy skin.
Salt your duck legs well, more than you think you ought to, actually. Let them rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.
Put the duck legs in a small casserole, skin side up. How small? You want it just big enough to hold the legs. Put a thin sheen of oil or melted duck fat on the bottom of the casserole, then place the duck legs in close together but not overlapping.
Put the casserole in the oven and turn it to 300 degrees F.;
if you have a digital oven, you could even go down to 285 degrees F.
Do not preheat the oven. You want to cook the duck as gently as possible.
Walk away at least 90 minutes, and two hours is better. After 90 minutes, check the duck: It should be partly submerged in melted fat and the skin should be getting crispy.
When the skin is starting to look crispy, turn up the heat to 375 degrees. Check after 15 minutes. You’re looking for a light golden brown.
If you missed some spots with the needle and there are places where the skin won’t crisp that’s OK – better that than burnt skin elsewhere.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before eating.