Ingredients:

• 4 duck breasts, skin-on
• 3-4 cups coarse sea or kosher salt
• 2 tbsp ground bay leaf
• 2 tbsp crushed red peppercorn
• 1 tbsp granulated garlic
• 8 juniper berries, coarse crushed

Directions:

1. Mix the bay leaf, juniper berries, garlic and peppercorn in with 3 cups of salt
2. Lay a bed of salt down in the bottom of a Pyrex dish that will comfortably hold the duck breasts without them overlapping or touching
3. Lay the duck breasts, fat-side up, into the dish
4. Cover with remaining seasoned salt
5. If any of the breast is still exposed, use straight salt to cover the exposed areas
6. Cover the whole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours
7. After 24 hours, remove the dish from the fridge, remove the breasts, and rinse well under cold water to remove the surface salt and spices (the meat should be substantially firmer and darker than when you started the day before!)
8. At this point, reapply some more seasoning (I went with the ‘Christmas theme’ of mixing 1 teaspoon of ground bay leaf and 1 tablespoon of course ground red peppercorn and sprinkled that over the 4 breasts)
9. Wrap each breast in cheesecloth and hang to cure in a cool, humid environment, ideally between 50F and 60F (the ideal time-frame for this is about 7-10 days – just enough to firm up the breasts – but not to the point of getting too firm
10. Serve with a thin slice of Parmessiano-Reggiano Cheese