Yes, its that time....

I'm sure everyone, as you say, will have their own version of cassoulet. This is the one I use:


CASSOULET OF WHITE BEANS,

SAUSAGE AND DUCK



Serves 8

Ingredients


1 lb small white beans (such as Great Northern),
(covered with 2 inches of water, brought to a boil for 2 minutes and then allowed to simmer on lowest heat for one hour)
1 lb pork fat or blanched salt pork or thick-cut bacon
2 medium halved onions
2 medium carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic

Bouquet garni (tied in the celery stalks):
4 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs thyme
2 whole bay leaves
2 half stalks celery, with leaf

2 qt chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine

1 lb pork garlic sausages
4 Tbs olive oil

Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2 whole duck breasts, quartered
1 lb red tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and
chopped or one 16-ounce can of tomatoes
1-½ cups toasted panko bread crumbs


Directions

Drain the par-cooked beans and put them into an 8-quart casserole with the pork fat/bacon, the halved onions, carrots, garlic, bouquet garni and chicken stock.

Bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat, uncovered, for about an hour.

Remove the pork fat (or bacon, etc.) and chop it into ½-inch pieces.

Strain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid and discarding the onions and bouquet garni. Set the beans aside in a bowl.

Prick each sausage in two places with a fork and put them in the bottom of a 10-inch sauté pan with a bit of olive oil. Cook over medium heat, turning from time to time, until the sausages are browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Add additional olive oil to the pan if the sausages do not render out a good layer of fat at the bottom of the pan. Bring to high heat and add the chopped onion and cook, stirring from time to time until the onion is semi-soft, about 5 minutes.

When the onion is softened, add the duck breast, skin-side down first. Brown one side, flip and brown the other side well.

Add the white wine and cook for another minute. Stir in the tomatoes and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Season well with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.


To assemble the cassoulet, layer one-third of the beans on the bottom of the casserole and add half the bacon or salt pork, sausages, and duck breasts.

Cover this layer with half the tomato mixture. Repeat with another third of the beans and the remaining bacon, sausages and duck. Cover this with the rest of the tomatoes and then the beans.

Add salt and pepper to taste to the bean-cooking liquid. Pour in enough of the bean liquid to come up just to the top of the beans.


Cover the entire cassoulet with the toasted bread crumbs, drizzle with the drippings from the pan and bake in a 350°F oven for an hour and 15 minutes, or until the bread crumbs have formed a crust.

You can break through the crust with the back of a spoon three or four times during the cooking to allow the juices to help form a mushy crust.


I almost always do individual casosulets. I layer each small baking dish with beans, one ¼ piece of duck, ½ link of sausage (sliced) and the other ingredients.

Joe

 

I think the duck is traditional, would one use confit duck legs in this as well? Lots of lovely fat to enrichen the dish.

I've also heard the debate about to crust or not to crust, there seem to be 2 camps on that detail.

Certainly it would benefit being kept for a day or three, I wish it were winter here so I could try. Patience .... winter will come

 

petsandcoco:

I don't think anyone has an "authentic" cassoulet recipe. I'm sure the idea pre-dates even printed cookbooks. And just as with paellas, "chili" or even something as simple as fried rice, there are so many variations and opinions that I don't think anything is a "must have ingredient".

If you prefer pork, go heavy on the pork. If you like your duck a la "confit", have at it -- regardless that others may think confit is not necessary. And go for quail or pheasant if you'd rather not do duck. I've seen cassoulet recipes that called for mutton.

As for the beans -- the real core of the recipe -- , I wrote "Great white northern" but a purist will tell you that it must be "haricots tarbais" or "haricots de Soissons", and the original cassoulet certainly must have been the European native fava bean and not any white bean that is native to the New World (as are the above).

Joe

 

Petals,
I agree - Joe's recipe is very good. Now I know how to cassoulet.

I think your grandmother knew what she was about - it sounds so rich, earthy and splendid.

Had not thought about pork confit before (from the link you posted)...that must be so rich! (think I just gained 5lb thinkng about it )

As to seasoning...S&P are the obvious ones. I have a storecupboard reserved just for spices, herbs etc. But I know, to me, I never have enough, and snap up evey new one I see to try. Sometimes they work....sometimed not,but it's fun to try.