Caneton aux Petits Pois

Caneton aux Petits Pois (duckling with green peas) teaches proportion. The bird may be beautifully browned and the peas perfectly tender, but the dish succeeds only when its reduced sauce just coats the garnish. A flood turns peas dull and hides the small onions; a gloss binds pork, peas, and duck into one generous pot.

The original formula assumed a saucier on staff, brown stock never off the fire, and thin half-glaze ready at arm's reach. At home, a reliable prepared demi-glace thinned with unsalted brown chicken or duck stock gives the same structure in one cocotte. A salamander has no work in this covered braise, so none is invented. One young duckling serves four. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The separate sauce station was brigade scaffolding, and it goes. Browning the pork, onions, and duck in the same butter, loosening the fond with stock, cooking everything gently, and reducing the sauce at the end are the dish itself, so every one of those steps stays. Before you touch the pan, remember the measure: the finished sauce must only just cover the garnish.