-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Cassoulet
Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 19:57:38 -0700
From: alzelt >
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
References: >



Dunter Powries wrote:

> Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet, homestyle, rather
> than what might be served at a hotel?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Dunty Porteous
>
> --
> "It tastes like burning..... waaaaa!!!!"
> -Ralph Wiggum
>
>
Well, OK. But I should make you first tell us whether you want the style
of Toulouse, Castlenaudary or Carcassonne!!!!!! You caught me in good
spirits tonight, so here we go. Try these on for size:

* Exported from MasterCook *

Cassoulet

Recipe By : Saveur January/February 1998
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Beans French
Game Main Dish
Meats Stew

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 cups dried great northern or other small white
beans
4 fresh ham hocks (about 1 lb. each)
3 large yellow onions -- peeled and quartered
5 sprigs thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 lb. fresh pork rind -- cubed
1 ham bone
1 tbsp duck fat
1 lb. unseasoned fresh pork sausage -- (about 4 links),
cut into 2''
piece
1 large head garlic -- separated into
cloves and peeled (about 3/4
cup)
Confit of 1 quartered duck or 4 whole legs
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Rinse beans thoroughly, pick through and discard stones,
then set beans aside. (See We Didn't Know Beans for more
about preparing beans.)

2. Place ham hocks in a large pot. Add 1 onion, thyme, and salt
and pepper. Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 2
hours. Remove from heat, allow to cool for 15 minutes, then
drain ham hocks, discarding onion and thyme. Cut meat from
each hock into 2 pieces. Discard bones and set meat aside.

3. Meanwhile, place pork rind, ham bone, and 1 onion in a large,
heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently,
until pork rind is rendered, about 20 minutes. Add beans and
enough water to cover by 1/2'' (about 8 cups) and season with
salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook until
beans are tender, about 45 minutes. Adjust salt, if necessary,
then set beans aside to cool.

4. Heat duck fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add
sausages and cook, turning to brown on all sides, for about 10
minutes. Place garlic, remaining onion, and 1/2 cup water in a
blender and purée until smooth. Add garlic paste to sausages
and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, turning sausages
occasionally, for 10 minutes more.

5. Preheat oven to 350°. Using a slotted spoon, remove and
discard ham bone and onion from beans (it is okay if some
pieces of onion remain). Using a slotted spoon, transfer about
half the beans with pork rind to a heavy wide-mouthed 5-6 qt.
cast-iron, clay, or earthenware pot, about 4'' high (see The
Cassole). Assemble cassoulet in layers: Place the meat from
the ham hocks on top of the beans and cover with sausages
and garlic paste. Divide duck into 8 pieces by separating
drumsticks from thighs and, if using a whole duck, splitting
breasts in half crosswise through the bone. Arrange duck on
sausages, then spoon in remaining beans with pork rind.
Season with nutmeg and add just enough reserved bean
cooking liquid to cover the beans (about 3 cups). Reserve
remaining liquid. Bake, uncovered, until cassoulet comes to a
simmer and a crust begins to form, about 1 hour.

6. Reduce heat to 250° and cook for 3 hours, checking every
hour or so to make sure cassoulet is barely simmering (a little
liquid should be bubbling around edges of cassoulet). If
cassoulet appears dry, break crust (browned top layer) by gently
pushing it down with the back of a spoon, allowing a new layer
of beans to rise to the surface. Add just enough reserved bean
cooking liquid (or water) to moisten beans.

7. Remove cassoulet from oven. Allow to cool completely, then
cover with a lid or aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

8. Remove cassoulet from refrigerator and allow to warm to
room temperature for at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat
oven to 350°. Bake for 1 hour. When cassoulet begins to
simmer, break crust and add enough warm water to just cover
beans (about 1 cup). Reduce heat to 250° and bake, breaking
crust and adding water as needed, for 3 hours. Remove
cassoulet from oven and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes. Serve
cassoulet from the pot, breaking the crust at the table.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES : A beautiful, well-browned crust is one of the glories of
cassoulet, but how often the crust should be broken and
pushed down into the cassoulet while it cooks is open to
debate. Étienne Rousselot, owner of Hostellerie Étienne, whose
recipe is adapted here, recommends breaking the crust often
enough to keep the beans moist—at least four times. Others
say that it should be broken every hour. We prefer to break the
crust only as necessary (see steps 6 and 8). Rousselot defies
Castelnaudary tradition by often using duck instead of goose; he
finds it more tender. Cassoulet may be cooked for seven hours
straight, but we prefer it cooked over two days.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Cassoulet (Fine Cooking)

Recipe By : Jean-Pierre Moulle, Fine Cooking, 01/02
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Beans Dinner
French Game
Lamb Main Dish
Meats Pork
Sausage Stew

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------

FOR THE BEAN STEW:
1 lb. dry white beans -- such as cannelini
or Great Northern
1 pig’s foot or 1 small fresh ham hock
3/4 lb. pork belly or pancetta
1/2 lb. pork rind
1 medium carrot -- halved
1/2 large onion -- peeled and halved,
each half studded with
1 whole clove
1/2 tomato -- peeled and seeded,
or 1/2 cup canned whole
tomatoes -- drained
1/2 rib celery -- halved
1/2 head garlic -- halved across the
top
1 bay leaf -- several sprigs of
fresh thyme, and several parsley
stems -- tied together in a
bouquet
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE LAMB STEW:
1 lb. boneless lamb shoulder -- neck, or shank meat
-- (about 2 lb. on the
bone)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup duck fat or olive oil
1 medium carrot -- peeled and coarsely
chopped
1 onion -- peeled and coarsely
chopped
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 tomatoes -- peeled and seeded,
or 2 cups canned whole tomatoes,
lightly squeezed
1 bay leaf -- several sprigs of
fresh thyme, and several
parsley stems -- tied together in a
bouquet
2 cloves garlic
2 cups homemade or low-salt chicken broth or
duck stock
FOR THE CASSOULET:
1/4 cup duck fat or olive oil
1/2 lb. garlic sausage or sweet Italian sausage
that’s
not seasoned with fennel
4 duck confit legs
1 clove garlic
Bean stew (see the recipe above)
Lamb stew (see the recipe above)
2 cups coarse -- unseasoned
breadcrumbs, toasted, preferably
from a baguette
Extra chicken broth or duck stock for
moistening the
cassoulet during baking -- if needed

Make the bean stew: Soak the beans overnight in enough cold water to
cover them well. Drain, rinse, and pick through them for stones
and damaged beans. In a large saucepan, cover the pig’s foot or ham
hock, pork belly or pancetta, and pork rind with cold water.
Bring to a boil, simmer for 3 mm., drain, and rinse in cold water.
Reserve. In a large saucepan, cover the beans with lukewarm
water. Bring to a boil, drain, and return to the pan. Cover with hot
water. Add the carrots, onion, tomato, celery, garlic,
and herb bouquet. Bring to a boil, add the reserved pig’s foot or ham
hock, pork belly or pancetta, and pork rind. Simmer,
covered, for 1 1/2 hours, until completely tender (don’t add salt yet).
Transfer to a large pan to cool and reserve
the beans in their cooking liquid. Remove the carrot, onion, and herb
bouquet; discard. Taste and season with salt and
pepper as needed, but be prudent, as the pork parts add a good bit of
salty flavor.

Meanwhile, make the lamb stew: Cut the lamb into 2 1/2-inch pieces.
Season with salt and pepper. In a large, heavy sauté pan over
medium-high heat, melt the duck fat or heat the oil. Sear the lamb
pieces until well browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon
and reserve. Add the carrot and onion, lower the heat to medium, and
cover the pan. Sweat the vegetables until tender
but not browned, about 6 mm. Raise the heat, add the white wine, and
boil, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon,
until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the reserved lamb and any
juices, the tomatoes, herb bouquet, garlic, and
broth or stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer,
covered, until the lamb is tender, about 1 hour, skimming
off the fat and froth as needed. Discard the herb bouquet and reserve
the lamb stew until it’s time to assemble the cassoulet.

To assemble the cassoulet: Heat the oven to 250F. In a medium-size sauté
pan over medium-high heat, heat half of the duck fat or
olive oil. Add the sausage; brown it on all sides. When cool enough to
handle, cut it into six pieces. Cut the duck confit legs
in half at the joint. Rub the garlic clove over the inside of an
earthenware casserole, an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven,
or a large ceramic soufflé mold. Retrieve the pig’s foot or ham hock,
pork rind, and pork belly or pancetta from the bean stew.
Discard the pig’s foot or ham hock bones. (If you’ve used a ham hock,
tear off any remaining meat and add it to the bean stew).
Cut the pork belly or pancetta into 1/2-inch pieces and reserve. Cut
the pork rind into 1/2-inch pieces and scatter them over
the bottom of the dish.

With a slotted spoon, transfer one-third of the beans to the dish. Do
the same with half the pork belly or pancetta, all of the
duck confit, half the lamb stew (again, use a slotted spoon, because
you’ll be using the cooking liquid later), and all of the
sausage. Cover the meats with another one-third of beans, the remaining
pork belly and lamb stew, and finish with the
last one-third of beans. Combine the bean juices with the lamb sauce,
taste for seasoning (remembering that the duck confit
is salty), and pour just enough over the dish to barely cover the beans.

Sprinkle the dish with the breadcrumbs and drizzle the remaining duck
fat (melt it first if it’s still solid) or olive oil over the
breadcrumbs. Bake for 2 1/2 hours and then raise the heat to 350F and
bake until the crust is a rich golden brown and the cassoulet is
bubbling around the edges, about another 30 mm. Check the cassoulet
during baking-if it’s getting too dry, add more broth or stock; if the
crust is browning too quickly, cover it with foil. Let the cassoulet
rest for at least 30 mm. before serving. Bring the entire dish to the
table and serve each guest some crust, beans, and pieces of the
different meats.




- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES : This recipe serves six generously, and it’s easily doubled if
you want to make more (plus, leftovers are delicious). If you
don’t have the traditional deep earthenware casserole, use a 5-quart
enameled cast-iron Dutch oven or a ceramic soufflé dish-the vessel
needs to be wide enough for a crust to form. For pork rind, order it or
buy salt pork and cut the rind off, freezing the salt pork
for another use. Serves six.



--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener



--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener