Slow Cooker Duck Legs with Orange Parsnip and Potatoes

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the vegetables and orange

   Peel the potatoes and celery root and cut them into pieces about 3 cm across. Cut the leek lengthwise, rinse it thoroughly, and slice it into rounds. Chop the garlic. Finely grate only the orange part of the peel, then squeeze the juice from the orange.

   
2. 2

   Brown the duck legs

   Pat the legs dry with a paper towel and score the skin in a shallow crosshatch pattern without cutting into the meat. Season them with 5 g of the salt and the pepper. Place them skin-side down in a cold pan and cook over medium heat for 8–10 minutes, until the fat begins to render and the skin turns golden. Turn them over and cook for another 2 minutes. Set the legs aside and pour off most of the fat from the pan.

   
3. 3

   Fill the slow cooker

   Spread the vegetables across the bottom of the slow cooker. In a bowl, whisk together the stock, orange juice, orange zest, and mustard, then pour the mixture over the vegetables. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and the remaining 1 g of salt. Arrange the duck legs on top of the vegetables, skin-side up.

   
4. 4

   Slow-cook

   Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 7 hours. Do not lift the lid during cooking. At the end, check the temperature in the thickest part of a leg, without touching the bone: it must reach at least 74 °C, and the meat should be tender. If it has not yet reached this temperature, continue cooking and check it again.

   
5. 5

   Finish the sauce and serve

   Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Skim off any excess fat from the surface. Stir in the wine vinegar and chopped parsley. Taste and adjust the salt as needed; serve the legs with the potatoes, celery root, and leek, spooning the sauce over them. The skin will be soft rather than crispy after slow-cooking.