Cassoulet
A specialty of the southwest of France, cassoulet—named for cassole, the oval earthenware dish in which it was made—is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew made with white beans, meats (most often pork and sausages), and duck or goose confit. The dish is time consuming—it can take an entire day from start to finish—but is manageable when you break it into three tasks, which can be spaced out over a few days. The first step is to prepare Duck Confit (see page 232). Next the beans (which have to be soaked overnight) are cooked on the stove. Then the confit and beans are layered in a pot, along with pork and sausage, and baked for about three hours.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
For bouquet garni
For beans
For cassoulet
Preparation
Step 1
Make bouquet garni Tie the herbs, celery, and leek into a bundle with kitchen twine, wrapping the string around several times to secure the smaller herbs.
Step 2
Render fat and brown pork In a large (8-quart) pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add fatback or pork belly and cook until fat has rendered and meat is light golden, about 4 minutes. Add the pork shoulder and cook, tirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Pour off all but 1/4 cup fat.
Step 3
Cook beans Stick the clove in the onion and cut onion in half; add it to the pot along with the bouquet garni, ham hock, carrot, tomatoes and juice, and beans. Cover with water by 2 inches (about 8 cups). Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook at a gentle simmer until the beans are tender but not falling apart, about 40 minutes. Remove from heat. Use tongs to remove and discard the onion, carrot, and bouquet garni.
Step 4
Remove meat from ham hocks Heat oven to 300°F. Remove the ham hocks. When cool enough to handle, cut away and discard the skin. Dice the meat into small pieces and return to the pot.
Step 5
Layer beans and meat in pot Rub the inside of a large (8-quart) Dutch oven or cast-iron pot with garlic halves. Using a spider or a slotted spoon, transfer half of the bean mixture to the pot, spreading in an even layer (reserve the cooking liquid). Arrange the duck and sausage over the beans, then cover with the remaining beans. Pour in cooking liquid until it comes just below the top of the beans (about 3 cups) and reserve the rest of the liquid (there should be 1 to 2 cups remaining).
Step 6
Bake cassoulet Bake, uncovered, 2 hours; check every half hour or so to make sure the mixture is bubbling (adjust heat if necessary) and that the liquid hasn’t fallen more than 1/2 inch below the surface of the beans (add more reserved cooking liquid or water, if necessary). Remove from oven.
Step 7
Top with bread crumbs and finish baking Toss the bread crumbs with the butter. Sprinkle evenly over the mixture in the pot and continue baking 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer, or until the bread crumbs are crisp and golden.
Step 8
Serve Let cassoulet stand 10 to 20 minutes to allow it to cool and ensure that the beans soak up more of the liquid. Serve individual portions on warmed dishes. Any leftovers can be cooled completely, then refrigerated, covered, for up to 2 days; reheat in a 300°F oven until warmed through.
Ingredients
Step 9
Fatback, which is unsmoked and unsalted, can be substituted with uncured pork belly (not to be confused with salt pork, which also comes from the belly but is very salty). Both can be found at butcher’s shops, as can smoked ham hocks, which are also often found at supermarkets.
Step 10
To save time, you can use store-bought duck confit instead of making your own. It is available through D’Artagnan (www.dartagnan.com) and other specialty food purveyors.
Step 11
You can use Great Northern or Tarbais beans in place of navy beans, but canned beans are not an acceptable substitution.
Equipment
Step 12
A large (8-quart) pot is needed to simmer the beans. The traditional pot for cassoulet is an oval earthenware, but any enameled cast-iron Dutch oven or other pot with a tight-fitting lid will do.
