Tournant’s Duck Fat Roasted Roots

Professional chefs and Tournant founders Mona and Jaret love to cook outdoors and serve their guests in that same natural setting. It’s part of their farm-to-fire, hyper-local cooking philosophy, utilizing what’s fresh and in season and using every part of the ingredients already on hand. For this recipe, it’s duck fat. When preparing their sweet and delicious roast duck, they drain off some of the velvety rendered duck fat to use in other dishes. It’s no-waste cooking at its finest. Tournant’s Duck Fat Roasted Roots brings the rich, subtle flavor of the duck fat to a mélange of root vegetables, bringing out the complexity of each colorful root. More like olive oil than butter, duck fat holds up under high heat and is high in unsaturated fat, making it one of the healthiest animal fats. So enjoy this ramble of roots roasted in nothing less than culinary gold.

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds mixed root vegetables (such as potatoes, carrots, kohlrabi, turnips, parsnips, golden beets, or purple daikon), peeled and diced

4 tbsp. melted duck fat (can be rendered from roast duck)

2-3 small heads of garlic, tops sliced off to expose cloves

Several sprigs fresh thyme

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

PREPARATION

STEP 1

In a large bowl, toss root vegetables with 3 tablespoons duck fat and season to taste with salt and pepper; transfer to a roasting pan or baking sheet.

STEP 2

Nestle in garlic heads and scatter with thyme sprigs. Drizzle garlic with remaining tablespoon of duck fat.

STEP 3

Roast in a 400-degree oven until tender and lightly browned.

RENDERING DUCK FAT FROM MAPLE-MISO ROAST DUCK RECIPE

If making roots to serve alongside roast duck, carefully pour off 4 tablespoons of duck fat halfway through roasting the duck.

Toss roots with duck fat and roast along with duck for the remaining time. If the roots are not fully cooked through by the time the duck is done, simply lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue roasting the roots until tender and lightly browned.

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Click here to see the rest of our Tournant Recipe Series.