Cassoulet, of a Sort
Bad pain day, and the cold was fierce. I needed comfort food, so I turned the lamb leftovers into a cassoulet-like thing, instead of doing homework.
I cooked a pound of Great Northern beans from scratch, no flavoring except salt. Most people seem to want to cover up bean flavor with something, anything at all, but I love it. Solid, earthy flavors. When they were close to done I chopped large chunks of celery root and carrot, and diced shallots and garlic for a sort of miripoix. After sauteing the vegetables, rosemary, and thyme, I deglazed the pan with the same citrusy white wine, and poured the whole lot into a casserole dish, and then I chopped the leftover lamb into large chunks, throwing it and the olive tapenade into the casserole as well, and covered the whole lot with beans and their juices. I threw in a little sauteed collard greens, too.
Then I cooked it all between 350 and 400 for several hours (I kept tinkering with the temperature in an effort to keep from falling into bed with the cats and not getting back up again), stirring every now and then. Fifteen minutes before I decided to take it out, I drizzled the beans with olive oil, and closed the oven to let a golden crust form.
I topped the lot of it with toasted breadcrumbs, and wished I hadn't, later. It was overkill, and unnecessary, and the natural golden crust was much prettier than the crumb. If I had to do it again I'd add more collard greens, too. The chunks of celery root were an unexpected wonderfulness.
I'd like to try this again using heavily roasted mushrooms instead of lamb.
I cooked a pound of Great Northern beans from scratch, no flavoring except salt. Most people seem to want to cover up bean flavor with something, anything at all, but I love it. Solid, earthy flavors. When they were close to done I chopped large chunks of celery root and carrot, and diced shallots and garlic for a sort of miripoix. After sauteing the vegetables, rosemary, and thyme, I deglazed the pan with the same citrusy white wine, and poured the whole lot into a casserole dish, and then I chopped the leftover lamb into large chunks, throwing it and the olive tapenade into the casserole as well, and covered the whole lot with beans and their juices. I threw in a little sauteed collard greens, too.
Then I cooked it all between 350 and 400 for several hours (I kept tinkering with the temperature in an effort to keep from falling into bed with the cats and not getting back up again), stirring every now and then. Fifteen minutes before I decided to take it out, I drizzled the beans with olive oil, and closed the oven to let a golden crust form.
I topped the lot of it with toasted breadcrumbs, and wished I hadn't, later. It was overkill, and unnecessary, and the natural golden crust was much prettier than the crumb. If I had to do it again I'd add more collard greens, too. The chunks of celery root were an unexpected wonderfulness.
I'd like to try this again using heavily roasted mushrooms instead of lamb.