Reporting on the duck legs and carcass that I put in
the slow overnight oven to braise with some onions,
carrots, carrot tops, garlic, with thyme and bay. I'd
have put in some tomato and wine (maybe brandy), but 
I thought Jerry would not like that. He's extremely
scrupulous about the no alcohol thing and the 
potassium restriction but flouts the fluid and sodium
restrictions, because he won't live without salt; I
reached for the Tony Chachere's recently and discovered
it almost totally gone - he's been using it instead of
salt and counting himself virtuous in spite of that the
stuff is 90% salt if a day. And with salt comes thirst,
as anyone can tell. Naturally, he is gaining weight again
rapidly and took a paracentesis in addition to his 
dialysis, and we're hoping rather ghoulishly that someone 
who is O positive dies in an accident soon.  Actually, O
negative would work, but that's a real rarity.

Anyhow, after a long braise yielding nearly falling-apart
meat I broiled it to crisp the skin and served it with a
cream and pepper sauce made with real cream this time, little
salt, and spinach tagliatelle. Bonnie was dubious that we'd 
get the kid to eat any, but he actually had seconds. It's a 
fine line, because he's blowing up like the proverbial 
balloon - but we need to get real nourishment into him and 
cheer when we can get enough calories in him, sodium or no
sodium. I was pleased by the end result (though I'd use
more garlic next time) and its reception. Still, there was 
enough for another meal.

And so it was: I shredded the rest of the meat and made
a sauce out of the braising liquid and served that over
rice, and that fed us comfortably if not overgenerously,
making a total of 4 meals for 3 from one admittedly 
monster bird. And, because we spaced the meals apart,
with a nonpoultry meal between each duckery, nobody got
tired of it. I didn't of course work from a recipe, but
here's what I did more or less

Braised duck
categories: main, mine, poultry
servings: 4 or so

1 duck carcass, legs and breasts removed
1 1/2 c onion, diced pretty fine
4 carrots
4 carrot tops
2 bay leaves
1 ts dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, mashed
2 duck legs
2 Tb tomato paste, I omitted
1/2 c good wine, any color, I omitted
water and/or stock
s, p

Use a heavy cast-iron pot.

Sear the carcass under the broiler, turning once;
remove and turn the oven down to minimum.

Add the onion, carrots, carrot tops, and seasonings.
Lay the duck legs over, skin side down.

Muddle the tomato paste if using in wine if using
and add. Pour in liquid to cover the duck legs by
half or a bit more. Season the surface of the duck
legs with salt and pepper. 

On top of the stove, bring the mess to a boil.
Once just boiling, clap the lid on and return to
the oven. Let cook 3 hours to overnight, then turn
the heat off and let sit, not peeking, all day,
then remove.

Uncover, turn the duck legs over, season again, and
bring to a boil again on top of the stove. Clap the
lid again and let cook in a minimum oven as long as
you care to.

Before serving, take out of the oven, pick out the
meat, strain the liquid and any salvageable veggies.

In my case, the thighs and legs were melting tender
but not falling apart. Cut them into attractive
servings and keep warm. Mash the veggies into the
strained liquid and use that for the base for 
whatever sauce pleases you (I am partial to cream,
but a brown sauce would be fine as well). Take the
hot sauce and pour over the meat, serving it with
rice, pasta, potatoes, or bread as you wish. Good
accompaniments: peas, sweet potatoes, broccoli,
Brussels sprouts, or a salad, though I say so who
shouldn't.

Reheats well.

Michael Loo, September 2020