Cassoulet
Crossposted from Dreamwidth
I just made the best cassoulet I've ever produced. Here's what I did.
The Beans
800g flageolets soaked overnight
15cm x 15cm x 0.5cm piece of pork fat salted for a few hours(1)
250g smoked shoulder bacon cut in dice
Bay leaves
Herbs(2)
1 onion studded with four cloves
A head of garlic
Put this lot in a pan and cover with cold water to a depth of maybe 5cm. Cook until beans are very tender. Skim off the chunks of fat and reserve. Drain the beans reserving the liquor and the garlic. Discard onion and herbs.
The Meats
2 legs and 2 wings of duck salted for a few hours(3)
500g breast of lamb cut in 3-4cm cubes(4)
4 coarse cut garlicky sausages
2 tbsp duck fat(5)
120g breadcrumbs.
Heat the duck fat and add the cubes of pork fat. Cook until brown and crispy. This will splatter. Remove fat cubes.
Brown the sausages, reserve and slice into 2-3cm slices.
Brown the duck in the fat. Pour off and reserve most of the fat.
Brown the lamb in the remaining fat, take out the lamb and pour off the fat until maybe 1tbsp remains.
Quickly brown the breadcrumbs.
The Assembly
Squeeze the cooked garlic out of its skin and blend to a paste with 2tbsp of the reserved duck fat and 4 cloves of fresh garlic.
Find a casserole big enough to hold everything (or use two like I did)
Spread some of the garlic mixture on the bottom of the casserole.
Add half the beans.
Add the meats, reserving half the sausage
Add remaining garlic paste
Add remainder of beans
Stud the top of the mixture with the remaining sausage slices. This makes for more crispy goodness.
Add the cooking liquor. It should come up just to the top of the mixture. You might need a little extra stock or water.
Spread the breadcrumbs over the surface
The Cooking
Cook in a 275F (Gas mark 1) oven for 2.5 to 3 hours
If the top hasn't formed a nice crust, finish under the gill
Dismember the duck while serving so everyone gets a bit of everything. The finished texture should be just a little loose like a risotto. i.e. not stodgy but eatable with a fork rather than a spoon.
Serve with lots of red wine and a green salad to follow. Then lie down for a bit.
1. Pork rind would probably be even better but I had the pork fat in the freezer already.
2. Thyme and parsley for preference. I used rosemary and marjoram because that's what I had. Stalks (preferably fresh but dried OK but not ground up dried leaves)
3. Confit is canonical but it's ridiculously expensive to buy. I had the legs and wings of a Muscovy duck in the freezer since that's what I do when we want to eat duck breast; buy the whole duck and dismember it. A possible alternative would be chicken drum sticks but I would say if you go this route make sure they are good quality and, absolutely they need to be cooked in duck fat.
4. One could substitute 750g skin on pork belly for the lamb and the pork fat. I would still skin it and cook the rind with the beans though.
5. I guess one could substitute olive oil or lard but not if using the "chicken cheat".
The key to this is really browning the meats to crispiness. The contrast between the crispiness of the outside of the meat, the more gelatinous inside and the creamy beans is what sets this apart from my previous efforts.
I just made the best cassoulet I've ever produced. Here's what I did.
The Beans
800g flageolets soaked overnight
15cm x 15cm x 0.5cm piece of pork fat salted for a few hours(1)
250g smoked shoulder bacon cut in dice
Bay leaves
Herbs(2)
1 onion studded with four cloves
A head of garlic
Put this lot in a pan and cover with cold water to a depth of maybe 5cm. Cook until beans are very tender. Skim off the chunks of fat and reserve. Drain the beans reserving the liquor and the garlic. Discard onion and herbs.
The Meats
2 legs and 2 wings of duck salted for a few hours(3)
500g breast of lamb cut in 3-4cm cubes(4)
4 coarse cut garlicky sausages
2 tbsp duck fat(5)
120g breadcrumbs.
Heat the duck fat and add the cubes of pork fat. Cook until brown and crispy. This will splatter. Remove fat cubes.
Brown the sausages, reserve and slice into 2-3cm slices.
Brown the duck in the fat. Pour off and reserve most of the fat.
Brown the lamb in the remaining fat, take out the lamb and pour off the fat until maybe 1tbsp remains.
Quickly brown the breadcrumbs.
The Assembly
Squeeze the cooked garlic out of its skin and blend to a paste with 2tbsp of the reserved duck fat and 4 cloves of fresh garlic.
Find a casserole big enough to hold everything (or use two like I did)
Spread some of the garlic mixture on the bottom of the casserole.
Add half the beans.
Add the meats, reserving half the sausage
Add remaining garlic paste
Add remainder of beans
Stud the top of the mixture with the remaining sausage slices. This makes for more crispy goodness.
Add the cooking liquor. It should come up just to the top of the mixture. You might need a little extra stock or water.
Spread the breadcrumbs over the surface
The Cooking
Cook in a 275F (Gas mark 1) oven for 2.5 to 3 hours
If the top hasn't formed a nice crust, finish under the gill
Dismember the duck while serving so everyone gets a bit of everything. The finished texture should be just a little loose like a risotto. i.e. not stodgy but eatable with a fork rather than a spoon.
Serve with lots of red wine and a green salad to follow. Then lie down for a bit.
1. Pork rind would probably be even better but I had the pork fat in the freezer already.
2. Thyme and parsley for preference. I used rosemary and marjoram because that's what I had. Stalks (preferably fresh but dried OK but not ground up dried leaves)
3. Confit is canonical but it's ridiculously expensive to buy. I had the legs and wings of a Muscovy duck in the freezer since that's what I do when we want to eat duck breast; buy the whole duck and dismember it. A possible alternative would be chicken drum sticks but I would say if you go this route make sure they are good quality and, absolutely they need to be cooked in duck fat.
4. One could substitute 750g skin on pork belly for the lamb and the pork fat. I would still skin it and cook the rind with the beans though.
5. I guess one could substitute olive oil or lard but not if using the "chicken cheat".
The key to this is really browning the meats to crispiness. The contrast between the crispiness of the outside of the meat, the more gelatinous inside and the creamy beans is what sets this apart from my previous efforts.