Cassoulet
This succulent classic from southwest France takes time – it originated as peasant fare and in days gone by would simmer all day beside a wood fire. But today it requires relatively little presence in the kitchen. White beans are cooked to tenderness with onion, carrot, bacon and herbs, then combined with meats, infused with garlic and baked in a slow oven.
The challenge, if not residing in France, is finding the ingredients, and in particular the various meats. An authentic cassoulet includes both duck confit and the sausages known over here as saucisses de Toulouse. Many versions also include pork, lamb or both.
The good news is that duck confit and saucisses de Toulouse can be purchased online in the States and in the UK (see below for addresses). Or you can make the confit yourself — click here for the recipe. This takes a couple of days, however, so you’ll need to plan ahead.
Another solution is to substitute local products, aiming to get as close to the original as possible. In the States, the sausage could be Wisconsin-style bratwurst or maybe kielbasa, although it’s smoked — not ideal for this dish. You could also improvise with fresh duck legs. Do not be tempted to substitute chicken, however. That just wouldn’t be cassoulet.
The other key ingredient is, of course, the beans. In France, preferred varieties for cassoulet include haricots lauragais, haricots tarbais, lingots de Castelnaudary and cocos de pamiers. Elsewhere, choose dried white navy beans or cannellini beans.
And a word about the bacon. The tradition in France is to use unsmoked bacon in cassoulet, but as that is difficult to find elsewhere this recipe calls for smoked bacon. The bacon is blanched, which removes some of the smoky flavor. If possible, ask your butcher to cut you a slab of bacon about 1-1/2 inches (4 cm) wide. If not, buy thick-cut strips.
The cassoulet will ideally be baked in an earthware dish, as shown in the photo, but this is not essential. A Pyrex baking dish would also be fine.
Cassoulet is easy to prepare despite the time involved. And how much time are we talking about? It took me just over four hours, but I was actually in the kitchen for less than an hour. You soak the beans (1 hour), cook the beans (1 hour), brown the meats (30 minutes, more or less), assemble the dish (5-10 minutes) and bake it in a slow oven for 90 minutes.
It’s the kind of project that could be fun over the holiday season, and indeed this is a festive dish that can feed a crowd. For starters, I’d propose something light, perhaps a salad with garlic and croutons or a salad of lamb’s lettuce and beets. You could follow the main course with assorted cheeses and/or a fruit dessert, for example caramelized pears or baked apples. The cassoulet is hearty fare and deserves a hearty red, perhaps a Bordeaux or a regional wine from southwest France such as a Madiran or a Bergerac.
As noted above, cassoulet comes in many variations — so do not fret if certain items on the ingredient list below are hard to come by. In olden days, people concocted their cassoulet from whatever they had on hand in the kitchen. I’ve included all of the various meats in the recipe below, but you can omit one or another. Go ahead and improvise.
The quantities below will serve 6 people. For a larger crowd, double the recipe.
2-1/2 cups (500 g) dried white beans (see above)
1/2 pound (250 g) bacon, in a slab or in thick strips
1 onion
2 whole cloves
1 carrot
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. herbes de Provence
1 bay leaf
freshly ground black pepper
2 confit duck legs or 2 uncooked duck legs
1 pound (500 g) shoulder of lamb, pork loin or a combination
6-7 ounces (180 g) saucisse de Toulouse or a similar sausage
1-2 tbsp. duck fat or olive oil
2 tsp. sea salt or table salt
Begin by soaking the beans. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a boil. Place the beans in a large heat-proof bowl or pot. Pour the boiling water over them, making sure that the water level is at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) higher than the level of the beans. Soak for one hour.
While the beans are soaking, cut off the ends of the onion and peel it, leaving it whole. Cut a cross into the top. Stud with the cloves. Chop off the ends of the carrot and peel. Do the same with one clove of garlic. Set aside.
If your bacon has rind, slice it away. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Immerse the bacon and blanch at a simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
When the beans have finished soaking, drain through a colander. Transfer to a large pot. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and bacon. Add the herbes de Provence and bay leaf, and grind on some black pepper. Cover with water — about 2 quarts (liters). Bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat, skim away the foam, cover and simmer for one hour.
While the beans are simmering, prepare the meats.
First, the duck. If using duck confit, brown it lightly on both sides in a large skillet with no fat, about 5 minutes. The fat clinging to the duck will suffice. If using fresh duck legs, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet. Brown the duck well on all sides. In either case, set the browned duck aside on a large plate. Do not clean out the skillet.
Now the pork and/or lamb. Cut the meat into medium chunks 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) per side. Brown in the same skillet you used for the duck. If you need more fat, add a little duck fat or olive oil. Transfer to the plate.
Finally, the sausage. Brown lightly in the same skillet. Transfer to a board. Slice into rounds about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Do not clean out the skillet.
Now that the duck has cooled enough for easy handling, pull it off the bone. Remove and discard the skin. Now shred or cut it into bite-sized pieces.
When the beans are just tender, remove from heat. Add the salt. Remove the onion, carrot, garlic and bay leaf from the bean pot. Transfer the bacon from the bean pot to your cutting board and chop into lardons (thick sticks). Set aside.
Now set a colander over a separate pot and drain the beans, reserving their liquid.
We have arrived at the fun part — assembly.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (300 F, 150 C).
Peel the remaining two garlic cloves and cut them in half. Use one half to rub the bottom and sides of your baking dish. Then add 1 tbsp. duck fat or 1 tbsp. olive oil to the baking dish and spread it around to coat the bottom and sides.
Spread a layer of beans over the bottom of the baking dish. Add about half of the various meats — duck, pork, lamb, sausage and bacon. Add another layer of beans, then the rest of the meat, reserving a few rounds of sausage. Cover with a final layer of beans. Poke the remaining sausage rounds into the top.
Pour one ladleful of the bean liquid into a small bowl. Crush your four garlic halves through a press over the bowl. Pour over the cassoulet. Pour three or four more ladlefuls of bean liquid over the baking dish — enough to almost, but not entirely, cover the beans. Now spoon on a little of the duck fat from your skillet or, lacking that, a little olive oil.
Bake for 90 minutes. After about half an hour, remove the baking dish from the oven and break the crust that has formed on top by punching into it with the handle of a wooden spoon. Return to the oven. Repeat after another half hour.
Bring the cassoulet to the table in its baking dish. Then portion out the beans and meat to each diner. Enjoy!
Serves 6.
