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1
Mix or grind together the salt, thyme, bay leaves, and pepper.
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2
Put the duck in a roasting pan or broad, shallow bowl and rub this mixture all over it.
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3
Nestle the garlic if youre using it in among the legs and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
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4
Remove the duck from the salt mixture and rub off any excess salt.
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5
Preheat the oven to 300F.
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6
Warm the duck fat so that it is pourable.
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7
Place the duck and garlic in a baking dish in one layer.
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8
Cover the legs with the duck fat.
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9
(You may not need all the fat, depending on the size of your pan; and if you do not have enough, add olive or other oil as necessary.)
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10
Put in the oven and cook, undisturbedthe mixture should send up a few bubbles a minute, but no more than that; adjust the heat accordinglyfor 3 to 4 hours or until a fork pierces the leg with little resistance.
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11
Cool in the fat for about an hour.
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12
The legs can be stored in or out of the fat.
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13
To store them in the fat, simply refrigerate the whole roasting pan or combine the duck and the fat in a bowl and refrigerate.
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14
To store out of the fat, remove from the fat while still warm, then cool to room temperature.
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15
Wrap each leg individually and refrigerate.
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16
The legs (and garlic) will keep for up to 2 weeks; the fat will keep, refrigerated, indefinitely.
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17
To serve, heat a couple of tablespoons of the fat in a skillet over medium-low heat.
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18
Add 1 or more legs (and a clove or 2 of garlic) and brown slowly, turning as necessary, until crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.
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19
Serve with a salad (see the headnote) or with warm crusty bread.
