- 4 whole duck legs (thigh and drumstick), trimmed of excess fat
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced, or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¾ pound bing cherries, stemmed and pitted
- 1 cup port
- As soon as you get the duck legs home, rinse them, pat dry, and season generously with salt and pepper and the thyme. Rewrap and refrigerate until ready to cook. This can be done up to a couple of days in advance.
- Bring the duck legs to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it is very hot. This will take a couple of minutes. Add the duck legs, skin side down, and cook until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn the legs over and brown on the second side, 3 to 5 minutes longer, pouring off the excess fat as you go.
- Arrange the onion and garlic in a baking dish large enough to hold the duck legs. When the legs are nicely browned, place them, skin side up, on top of the onion and garlic. Roast, turning the legs once at the midway point, for about 1¼ hours. If the fat released during roasting begins to brown and smoke, pour it off. Also, agitate the onion mixture underneath the duck legs every now and again so that it does not stick or blacken.
- At the same time you put the duck legs in the oven, combine the cherries and port in a small enameled cast-iron or other nonreactive saucepan, place over medium-low heat, bring to a simmer, and simmer until the cherries are soft and the port has reduced a bit, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- During the last 15 minutes of roasting the duck legs, pour the cherry mixture evenly over the top. When the duck is done, the meat should fall easily from the bone.
- Transfer the duck legs to warmed individual plates or a platter, spoon the cherry-port juices and the onion-garlic mixture over the top, and serve.