Slow-Roasted Duck With Mashed White Beans, Sizzled Herbs and Olives Recipe (2024)

Really tasty! Finding duck legs required some effort, but the recipe is fairly easy and well worth the effort. As prepared, the duck is reminiscent of a confit (or a deconstructed cassoulet when the beans are considered). I'm not sure if the effort of making the beans from scratch was entirely worth it as I think you could replicate similar flavor using canned cannelini beans sauteed with fresh garlic, olive oil, and sea salt. Either way, this was a good recipe and an elegant presentation.

We're locked down against the rage of the coronavirus and cooking carefully with ingredients on hand plus those we can cautiously buy. It turned out that I had nearly everything for this amazing recipe except the duck legs. But I did have chicken legs. Wanting to make a Saturday night special and normal, I invited David Tanis' talent to our table and made his recipe with that one substitution. This dish was a marvel and what a noble use of dry white beans. Thank you for this lovely meal.

serve with steamed clams with garlic parsley butter and for dessert fresh ricotta with rhubarb sauce or honey

I completely copied David Tanis' dinner party menu for guests, and both the clam starter and this dish were tremendous successes. I was only able to find muscovy duck legs, which are smaller than the moulard legs described in the recipe, but I still felt one leg per person was fine. I shortened the roasting time by 15 minutes, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. The mashed cannellini beans are fantastic! I served it with asparagus ...

Sorry but it's always worth the effort to buy beans such as Marcella beans from Rancho Gordo and cook them from scratch.

Wow. A snowy night with a French bistro dinner. For the 2 of us, I cooked about 6 oz of white navy beans a day ahead. The 2 duck legs (d'Artagnan purchased from Wegman's) were crispy in 90 minutes. I removed them from the fat and kept them warm while I finished the rest of the dish. An immersion blender worked well with the beans (I did need quite a bit of the cooking liquid to get them creamy). Loved the olives. Served an arugula salad on the side.

Fantastic! Followed the recipe to the letter, used Rancho Gordo Marcella (cannellini) beans; the herb sizzle with olives elevated the flavors. Very easy to make, lots of the prep can be done ahead, and you will dazzle your dinner guests.

Five stars! Fabulous!! Added the squeezed garlic from the head back into the beans. Wunderbar!!

Absolutely delicious and a really easy way to get a duck confit vibe without having to confit a duck! I didn’t think my duck legs would actually get soft and tender in the oven, but much to my delight they did after an hour and a half. The olives probably aren’t really necessary, but I liked the extra salty hit they added, and the whole frizzled herb topping looked lovely. And whether you soak dried beans, use a fancy jar of beans or open a regular old can of beans, this is going to taste great.

We have made this twice and it is our favorite duck recipe: conceptually simple and delicious. For those who prefer canned beans, please consider buying a pound of dried Marcella beans at your local fancy store or from their creator, Rancho Gordo. They are named after Marchella Hazan as you may know. They will become your essential ingredient and you can use the left overs in vegetarian lunches.

I’ve used this method for the duck legs about 5 times now. Comes out great each time, like duck confit. Crispy skin, tender, falling off the bone meat, and rendered fat. I’ve done it with bigger, 1lb legs and smaller, 1/2 lb legs. Works each way!

My husband thought this was the best duck he's ever had and we love duck. A very easy recipe. The slow cooking process rendered most of the fat out of the skin which was a plus for me. I added some sauteed onions and fresh baby spinach to the beans at the end to make them a more complete side dish. You could also add reg bell pepper.

First time I cooked duck and one of the best meals I've ever made! I completely followed the menu. Due to my schedule, I pre-prepped the duck 5 hours in advance and left to air in the fridge. I made the beans the day before, soaking them in water with salt and baking soda. (See Nik Sharma's article: https://www.seriouseats.com/baking-soda-brine-for-beans-5217841). Beans were sublime with sizzled herbs topping.

To Tom Kerwin — for decades now I have cooked whole ducks — not even salted — à la James Beard’s recipe I found in his book, The New James Beard (p. 338). Place the whole duck on a rack in a roasting pan, set in a 350 degree oven. Cook for 2 full hours — and he adamantly says, don’t peek! I do t even salt it. It comes out perfect every time and is so easy. He got it from th then chef of The Four Seasons in NYC.

2nd time 240 degrees, 90 min -- seemed just right. Don't go overboard on salt.

Skin came out great, super crispy but not burned. Left the legs in for 1:40 and some of the meat on one side of the leg was a little dry but nothing falling off the bone. Might be my oven, I will try it at 300 next time.

This was excellent and very easy. The duck legs came out with perfect crispy skin, all the fat melted off. Had to do french lentils and a frisee salad instead, as I had no beans. Left the duck in a little longer, still at 325, as it wasn’t quite done at 2 hrs — about 10-15 minutes longer.

Can you substitute chicken legs?

What adjustments would you suggest for cooking a whole duck instead of the six legs?

Made this for pandemic Christmas dinner using a cast iron skillet to roast the duck legs. 2 hours at 325 degrees and then transferred the cooked legs to a parchment covered sheet pan before finishing for 8 minutes in a 400 degree convection oven. I didn’t have dried beans, so I used canned (skipping the cooking steps) heated with chopped onion and garlic, then puréed. Also added a side of duck fat potatoes, an arugula salad, and a nice Pinot Noir. Perfection in these troubled times.