The kitchen teaches some important portable skills when cooking a cassoulet, the winter warmer one-pot dish of white beans and meats originating in the southwest of France.
The most important lesson is that the best flavors are layered, in the same way that paint or color is put onto a canvas. In a cassoulet, the gesso is the white bean — fairly bland but, in its way, as with gesso on a canvas, perhaps the most important element of the cassoulet overall. Without it, the other flavors in the dish — “painted” from stock, aromatics, herbs, fat and meat — could not shine.
The second lesson is the felicity of the switcheroo. No duck leg confit? Use chicken thighs instead (or no confit at all). No duck fat in a jar? Olive oil works well. You’ll be told that you must include the garlic sausage of Toulouse. Whatap French for “get outta here”? There hasn’t been an era with so many fine and delicious sausages everywhere than today’s.
“Cassoulet” is just a fancy term for “casserole.” Itap merely fancy because itap French. In truth, they’re the same word (they mean the pot that the preparation is cooked in). Of course, permutations of the casserole (the eaten one) are legion.
So have at them. Just keep in mind that layered flavors are best, so pay attention to the quality of each layer. And feel free to switcheroo.
Cassoulet
From Saveur magazine, Jan. 4, 2009
Serve 6-8
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried great northern beans
- 10 tablespoons duck fat or olive oil
- 16 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 large ham hocks
- 1 pound pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1⁄2 pound pancetta, cubed
- 4 sprigs oregano
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 cup whole peeled canned tomatoes
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 4 confit duck legs (optional)
- 1 pound pork sausages
- 2 cups bread crumbs
Directions
Soak beans in a 4-quart bowl in 7 1⁄2 cups water overnight. Heat 2 tablespoons duck fat (or olive oil, if using) in a 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add half the garlic, onions, and carrots and cook until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add ham hocks along with beans and their water and boil. Reduce heat and simmer beans until tender, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Transfer ham hocks to a plate; let cool. Pull off meat; discard skin, bone, and gristle. Chop meat; add to beans. Set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons duck fat in a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork and brown for 8 minutes. Add pancetta; cook for 5 minutes. Add remaining garlic, onions, and carrots; cook until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Tie together with kitchen twine oregano, thyme, and bay leaves; add to pan with tomatoes; cook until liquid thickens, 8 to 10 minutes. Add wine; reduce by half. Add broth; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, uncovered, until liquid has thickened, about 1 hour. Discard herbs; set Dutch oven aside.
Meanwhile, sear duck legs (if using) in 2 tablespoons duck fat (or olive oil) in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat for 8 minutes; transfer to a plate. Brown sausages in the fat, about 8 minutes. Cut sausages into 1⁄2″ slices. Pull duck meat off bones. Discard fat and bones. Stir duck and sausages into pork stew.
Heat oven to 300. Mix beans and pork stew in a 4-quart earthenware casserole. Cover with bread crumbs; drizzle with remaining duck fat (or olive oil). Bake, uncovered, for 3 hours. Raise oven temperature to 500; cook cassoulet until crust is golden, about 5 minutes.
Reach Bill St John at bsjpost@gmail.com