Duck is always tasty, with veggies, in a casserole or in a confit

There are a number of ways to cook duck: Peking style, honey-roast with orange, or as a confit. And the legs are just as versatile as the whole bird and more economical for a couple or single person.

Here are two different versions of cooking duck legs: one is French style and the other is from our friendly home-cook Marilyn Tosatti in Seattle.

French: To make the confit, start at least 6 hours before, or better yet the day before. Rub each duck leg all over with coarse salt and place in a deep glass bowl, continue to add more legs (two for each person) sprinkling again with salt. Cover the bowl and put in the refrigerator for a maximum of 5 hours, turning them over halfway through.

Preheat the oven to 140 C/284 F. Run the legs under the tap briefly to remove the salt, pat dry on kitchen paper. Have ready enough duck or goose fat (you can buy jars of the fat) to cover the duck legs in a casserole making sure they are completely submerged, cover and put the dish in the oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, remove the dish but leave the legs to cool in the fat.

Chill for at least 24 hours or until needed. So long as the duck legs are under the fat, the dish can be stored, so if you make a double portion you can save cooking time on the following day.

To reheat the duck: Lift the duck legs out of the fat and remove most of the fat. Put the legs skin-side up onto a roasting rack resting over a roasting tin and grill for a few minutes until the skin is crisp and golden and the meat has heated through. Alternatively, you can saut the legs in a frying pan, or serve them cold with an endive salad.

For an appropriate accompaniment gently fry 1/2 to 1 lb of sliced red cabbage and 2 chopped apples in a little oil until soft, around 15 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp red vinegar, a pinch of sugar, 1 Tspn powdered cinnamon and nutmeg and a knob of butter. Cover, simmer for 5 minutes and let it cool before serving with the duck legs.

The filtered fat can be used to make real "crisps" from very, very thinly cut slices of potato.

Marilyn Tosatti's Duck: brown the (4) duck legs in a heavy oven-friendly pot with a well-fitting lid. When the legs are crispy and the juice runs clear, remove legs to a plate and set aside. To the pot add a few finely chopped vegetables; 3 celery stalks, 2 carrots, 1 yellow onion and 2 cloves garlic and cook them until they soften and begin to take on color. Now add 2 anchovies and mash them down with a heavy fork, they will melt into the veggie sauce. Add 5 crushed juniper berries - if you don't have them then add 1 glass of Gin - it has the same taste, cook for 5 minutes add 2 Tbsp red wine per person, and 1 Tbsp only of red wine vinegar. Return the legs to the pot with 1 Tbsp tomato paste and 1 cup of chicken stock, blend well. Cooked for a further 1 1/2 hours, the sauce will reduce to a robust, tasty succulence.

This is best enjoyed with polenta or plain rice. You can have polenta on the table in less than 30 minutes. To serve 2 people over two days, bring 750 ml cold water to the boil, add 170 gms polenta very slowly or it will go lumpy. Stirring constantly cook for 10 minutes before testing, if still firm then cook a little more until soft and creamy before removing from the heat and adding 40 gms butter, salt and white pepper to taste. Ready today, any leftovers stored in the fridge will be firm enough to fry next day.