Winter 2025 | Tips & Tricks

Slow-Cooked Luxury

Duck leg confit elevates a Mexican holiday classic.

For countless families across our community, tamales hold special meaning, especially around the holidays. Often made in batches of a hundred or more, tamales are a family endeavor, one in which parents, grandparents, and children form an assembly line, folding packets of delicate corn husks filled with masa, tender meats, and chile sauce.

Duck has long been a holiday staple around the world, and it’s a nice alternative to the turkey you’ll find everywhere. It’s a high-protein dark meat that is richer and juicier than turkey or chicken, due to its higher fat content. To honor this issue’s theme of the holiday feast, I’m also highlighting how versatile duck meat can be for preparing holiday dishes. For these elevated tamales, we’ll use a classic culinary technique to slowly confit duck legs, which means to cook them in a low-temperature oven in their own fat until the meat is tender.

To contrast the richness of the duck, the masa this recipe calls for is filled with roasted poblano peppers, raisins, and chèvre. To simplify the process, I’d recommend using premade masa dough, which can be found at any Mexican supermarket. This dish pairs best with a tomatillo-avocado salsa and can be garnished with Mexican crema, microgreens, pomegranate seeds, and a crispy duck skin chicharrón.

Duck Confit Tamales
(Makes 15 to 20 tamales)

4 duck legs
¼ cup kosher salt
16 ounces duck fat, melted (find at Butcher Boy in Reno, or Safeway stores)
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon juniper berries
2 bay leaves
2 poblano peppers
30 corn husks
½ cup raisins
2 tablespoons honey
5 pounds prepared masa
5 ounces chèvre
For garnish: pomegranate seeds, microgreens, and Mexican crema

Start to prepare the duck leg confit at least 24 hours before you plan to make tamales.

Cure duck legs by liberally applying kosher salt all over them. Place in a dish, cover, and leave in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Spoon duck fat into a saucepan over medium-low heat to melt. Remove duck legs from fridge, rinse off salt, and dry thoroughly. Place duck legs skin-side up in a baking dish. Add cinnamon stick, juniper berries, and bay leaves, and pour melted duck fat over the legs until they are just covered. Cover dish with foil and bake for 3½ hours until tender.

While the duck cooks, prepare the salsa (recipe below). Then roast the whole poblanos over an open flame or under the broiler, flipping as needed, until the skins are charred all over. Place the poblanos in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and rest for 15 minutes. This makes them easy to peel. Remove skins, discard seeds and stems, and cut into medium dice. Set aside.

When the duck has finished cooking, remove dish from the oven, and let cool for about 30 minutes. While they are cooling, soak the corn husks in a bowl filled with water.

Remove the skin from duck legs and set aside. Pull and shred the meat, then combine in a bowl with the roasted poblanos, raisins, and honey. Now it’s time to assemble the tamales.

Make the tamales by scooping out ¼ cup of masa, forming a disk between your hands, and then pressing it onto a soaked corn husk. Spread the masa into an even layer using your fingers and a plastic bench scraper. Atop the spread masa, layer on 2 tablespoons of the duck mixture, then line the top with goat cheese.

Fold up the sides to elongate the filling, peel back the husk, then roll the husk over. Fold the bottom up to enclose filling, then secure with a piece of kitchen twine.

In a pot lined with a steaming basket, fill with water just below the basket, then layer the basket with tamale husks. Stand the tamales upright on the folded ends, leaning against the sides of the pot, then cover the bottom with remaining husks. Bring to a boil, then steam on medium-low heat for 30 to 45 minutes.

To test for doneness, open one tamal and make sure the husk peels away cleanly. Turn off the heat and let tamales sit for 15 minutes before unwrapping. While you wait, prepare the garnishes by reserving pomegranate seeds, microgreens, and Mexican crema. Optionally, fry the reserved duck skin in about a half cup of duck fat for 2 to 3 minutes until crispy.

To plate, spoon the salsa onto the plate, place a tamal on top, then garnish with Mexican crema, pomegranate seeds, microgreens, and chopped fried duck skin.

For roasted tomatillo and avocado salsa
4 large tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 jalapeños, stems and seeds removed
½ cup cilantro
1 avocado, skinned and seeded
2 garlic cloves
½ cup white onion
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Juice of 1 lime

Heat a comal or cast-iron skillet to medium-high and roast tomatillos until browned. Add tomatillos to a blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until very smooth. Serve with tamales.