Duck, Potatoes, Jus

Two covers. Rendered legs, potatoes cooked in the fat, a pan jus mounted with butter. Protein, garnish, sauce, timing.

Ingredients

01
Heat the oven to 190 °C. Pat the legs dry. Season with the salt and pepper. Potatoes go in cold water so they do not oxidize.
02
T+0 — Legs skin-side down in a cold pan, then medium heat. Render until the skin is deep gold and a pool of fat has collected, 12 to 15 minutes. Do not crowd.
03
T+15 — Flip the legs. Add garlic and thyme. Spoon a little fat over the flesh. Transfer the pan to the oven.
04
T+20 — Lift enough duck fat into a second pan. Drain the potatoes, season, and roast them in that fat, turning once, until the edges brown.
05
T+55 — Probe the joint. Duck legs are not magret. You want 82 to 85 °C and meat that yields, not a rare center.
06
T+60 — Rest the legs 8 minutes, tented, skin up. If you slice or plate now, the juice floods the plate and the skin wilts.
07
T+60 — Pour off excess fat from the roasting pan. Deglaze over medium heat with vinegar, then the chicken stock. Scrape the fond. Reduce to a nappe.
08
T+68 — Off heat, mount with cold butter. Taste. Season only at the end. Strain if you are plating for school; leave it rustic at home.
09
Plate: potatoes as the garnish, not a side pile. Leg on top or beside, skin dry and uncovered. Jus around the meat, never on the skin. Parsley last.

I treated legs like breast and pulled them at 55 °C. Chewy. Legs need time and a higher finish temp.
Crowded both legs in a small pan. Skin steamed instead of rendering. One pan, enough space, cold start.
Jus was too salty when I seasoned the fond and used salted stock. Unsalted stock, season at the pass.
Potatoes were an afterthought until I cooked them in the rendered fat. Then they belonged on the plate.
School: strain the jus, wipe the rim, glaze a tight pool. Home: same timing, less polish.