Remove your duck from the fridge in the morning on the day you plan to cook it. I promise, it will be okay sitting out all day. It's very important!

When the time comes to cook, score the skin on the duck in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife taking care not to puncture the meat itself. If you are uncomfortable with scoring, you can alternatively pierce the skin all over with a fork, but ensure that the entire layer of skin has holes all over it. This is where all of that delicious fat is going to render out from so be more liberal than you think you'll need to be with your stabs.

Season your duck generously with salt and pepper making sure that there is an even coating on the entire surface of the legs. Be particularly generous with the pepper.

Roughly chop your half shallot into large-ish pieces and slice your clove of garlic into quarters. Place into the middle of a high-sided baking tray. For your tray, it is important that it has high sides and should be small enough that the duck legs fit relatively snugly inside it as the duck will be using it's own rendered fat to cook itself.

Place the sprigs of fresh thyme on top of your pile of shallots and garlic. *If you do not have fresh thyme, dry thyme can be substituted but you will have to sprinkle it onto the duck legs themselves along with the salt and pepper.

Place the duck legs on top of the pile of shallots, garlic, and thyme and place into a cold oven. Only once your duck is already in, set the oven to 225 F. I know that seems low, but trust me.

Allow the duck to slowly roast for about 2.5 - 3 hours, maintaining the low heat in the oven.

When your duck is about 30 minutes from being done, prepare your potatoes but cutting them into into small one inch x one inch chunks leaving their skin on. Place into a pot of water and bring to boil. Allow the potatoes to boil until a fork can be inserted into them with almost no resistance.

While your potatoes are boiling, prepare your asparagus by snapping off their bottom ends allowing them to break where they naturally want to when you bend the stalk. Place in a frying pan with one cup of water and cover tightly. Steam on high heat for about 10 minutes until fork tender and then remove from heat, drain, and set aside.

When your potatoes are done, drain them and return to the pot. Add 1/4 cup of milk to the potatoes and mash thoroughly with a potato masher adjusting the amount of milk to how creamy or chunky you like. Season with a very small pinch of nutmeg as well as a very small amount of salt and black pepper.

When the duck is 10 minutes from being done, crank the oven heat up to 400 F. It is okay if the oven doesn't quite ever reach that temperature during those 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes are up, remove the duck from the oven. The legs should now be golden brown all over.

Steal about a tablespoon of the rendered duck fat from the bottom of the pan. Mix the fat into your mashed potatoes and set aside.

Place your frying pan with the asparagus back on the burner at high heat and pour in a small amount of olive oil. As soon as the oil begins to sizzle, roll the asparagus around in the pan while counting slowly to 20. As soon as you reach 20, remove the pan from the heat and plate the asparagus. Season with a small amount of salt.

Place your mashed potatoes on the plates in a mound and place the duck legs on top of the mashed potatoes. Serve immediately.