CASSOULET

 

 

 

 

 

Cassoulet is a classic French dish, and considered

 one of the ultimate in comfort foods. Recipes

 for the dish originate in the south of France,

 particularly the southwest, but the dish is made

 throughout France and in many other countries

 besides. Though ingredients vary slightly,

cassoulet typically contains white beans, and

 confit of duck or goose, a salted and herbed meat

 (usually made from the legs of the animal) that

is cooked in its own fat, cooled, and preserved.

 Duck or goose legs made in this manner add flavor

to the cassoulet, which also often contains other

 types of meat, like mutton and pork, and spicy sausages.

 

  

  

Traditional cassoulet is simmered for several

 hours on the stovetop so the beans cook properly

and the flavors combine together. It is then placed

 in an ovenproof dish. This dish in France is usually

 earthenware and is called a cassole. The whole

cassoulet is baked for an additional hour and may

 be topped with breadcrumbs for extra

crunch on top.

  

 

  

The main work in making cassoulet is creating

 confit, which can take several days to make since

 the meat is cooled and stored before it is used.

 You can purchase premade confit at specialty

 stores, though this is a little difficult to find. Alternately,

 you can simply skip the confit and add a little

additional fat to the dish, as from frying the duck

 legs, or adding something like bacon, to invest the

dish with a hearty flavor.

 

  

Cassoulet serves a large gathering, and leftovers

 reheat well. Spicy precooked Italian sausage or

 Polish kielbasa are a close match to the lively

garlic sausage from southwestern France

 traditionally used in this dish. Cassoulet can be

 prepared two days ahead and refrigerated.

Top with breadcrumbs and finish in the oven before serving

  

Cassoulet is a dish that just makes sense. Why

 does it make sense? You take fatty, flavorful meat,

put it in a big pot with moisture-hungry beans and

 bake the whole thing until the beans are infused with

 all that fat and flavor and the meat is cooked. It���s

not meant to be a fancy dish–this is the kind of food

French people make at home–and it���s infinitely variable,

 as evidenced by the infinite cassoulet recipes you

will find in my infinite cookbook collection, recipes that

 vary the type of meat, the type of bean, even the

 amount of time it takes to make the dish

(Bourdain���s recipe, in his ���Les Halles Cookbook,���

 calls for three days). I didn���t have three days to

spare on Friday night when I set out to make

 my very first cassoulet. So I turned to an

 under-praised, underused book in my collection:

  

  

Since winter���s almost over, this is the perfect

 dish to make on one of our last cold winter���s

nights. I promise it���s easy and I promise the pay-off

 is big. And so, without further ado,

 Cassoulet in 10 Easy Steps.

  

  

1. Soak two pounds of Cannelini beans in water

overnight OR, if you���re like me and you want to

make this instantaneously, use the ���quick-soak���

 method featured in the Gourmet cookbook. Put

 all the beans in a pot, cover by two inches of

cold water, bring to a boil, boil for two minutes,

 put the lid on, turn the heat off and leave for

an hour. You���re done!

  

  

That���s what I call a quick soak. [Note: I'd definitely

use dried beans for this, since they're such a

major part of the dish. Canned beans seem much

 more likely to disintegrate.]

2. Cut an onion into 1/2-inch cubes, 2 carrots

 into 1/2-inch cubes, 2 stalks celery into half inch

 cubes, and slice all the cloves from one whole

 head of garlic (that���s what it calls for in the big

 recipe, but too much garlic can���t kill a cassoulet,

 can it?) Tie together 1 bay leaf, 4 spigs parsley, 3 sprigs time:

  

  

3. Salt and pepper 3 duck legs (I was serving 3

people, so I did ONE duck leg and ONE sausage

 per person–vary accordingly) and 3 sweet

Italian sausages and dice 1/2 pound of bacon into cubes:

  

  

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and in

the Dutch oven, melt 2 Tbs butter along with

 2 Tbs olive oil over medium heat.

5. Now here���s where I disagree with Daniel

(who are you gonna trust: me or a 4-star chef?)

 He has you throw all that meat in the pot all at

 once until it all gets brown. Maybe he suggests

 that because he assumes you have a 15-Qt.

Dutch Oven, but you don���t have that, do you?

 Of course not. So I added all the meat at once

 and gallons of fat came out and the meat took

 forever to get brown, basically steaming in all

that fat. If I had to do it again, I���d brown the

 duck legs really well first, take them out, brown

 the sausages really well, take them out, and

add the bacon till it renders a bit, then throw

all the meat back in. In any case: brown your meat!

  

  

  

[There was so much fat, I ladled a few ladlefuls

 out. No one missed it.]

6. Add your vegetables and herbs and

 stir and cook for 10 minutes.

  

  

  

7. Add 2 Tbs tomato paste, stir around, then add

 1/2 pound peeled tomatoes (I used ones from a can)

 that you dice into 1/2-inch cubes, and the beans

 (just keep adding beans until it looks pretty

full–you���ll want a lot of beans) and then

water until the beans are covered and bring to a boil:

  

  

  

8. Cover the pot and bake in the oven until

the beans are tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours

. After 45 minutes check to see if it needs more

water, and if so add some. When it���s done, take

of the oven and season with salt, paprika and

cayenne pepper to taste. Just stir it all around

and taste it: you���ll love it.

  

  

  

  

9. Now���s the fun part: the breadcrumb topping.

Reduce the oven to 350 and take 2 cups of fresh

 bread crumbs, mix together with 3 Tbs

 coarsely chopped parsley, 6 cloves of finely

 chopped garlic, salt and pepper and layer

 on the top of the cassoulet. Now Daniel has

you do this in two stages: you put half the

 breadcrumbs on, drizzle on 3 Tbs melted butter,

 put in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, remove

 from the oven, press it into the liquid to moisten

 and then cover with the rest of the breadcrumbs,

 drizzle on another 3 Tbs butter, and put under

 the broiler until golden brown (5 to 7 minutes).

I think the reason he suggests this is because

if you don���t do it this way, lots of the breadcrumbs

 sink into the moisture and you get a big gunky

mess. But I had impatient eaters waiting on the couch:

  

So I just did it all at once. All the breadcrumbs

went on and I drizzled on 6 Tbs of butter:

  

Into the oven it went, and out it came (about 10 minutes later) thusly:

  

10. Serve!

  

  

  

Everyone gets a duck leg, everyone gets a

sausage, everyone gets a big bowl of

 bacon-infused beans. Served with a strong

 French wine, could a winter mean

 get any better? It really can���t.

Plus, the next day, the leftovers

 taste even better and go great with a salad:

  

  

This is the kind of food that sounds scary

because of its big scary name (Craig quite

cutely calls it ���Cassie O���lay���) but which is

 indeed, quite easy, once you understand the

 concept. So here���s the concept: meat infused

beans. Now was that hard? It���s not! Give cassoulet

 a try and do it soon, before it gets too warm

 to consume all that fat, meat and beany beany goodness.