Cassoulet
Submitted by brianjwood on August 21, 2003 at 5:37 am

DESCRIPTION
Cassoulet

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Family / Ethnic / Regional

INSTRUCTIONS
I'm a great fan of bean dishes in winter. A true French cassoulet, would be made with duck or goose pieces, previously fried slowly to render all the fat out, then put into a glass jar and covered with its own fat, and sealed. Preserved this way they are aspeciality of South Western France, called Confit (roughly=conserved) d'Oie for goose, or de Canard for duck. They also use the famous Toulouse sausage, not for wimps!DON'T ask more than one Burgundian Frenchman which town created it, unless you enjoy fighting! It is truly a peasant dish, but I have had it in Paris, in a Left Bank restaurant, and seen grown men cry with pleasure over it ( I just sort of whimpered 'cos I'm English). Chicken would not normally be used, but you could subsitute it, and use a good, plain pork sausage. To give you the full flavour, here is a recipe from a delightful book by Jeanne Strang, called 'Goose Fat and Garlic; Country recipes from South West France'. If you like earthy cooking, this is well worth tracking down, not least for the wonderful (I think unconscious)contempt she shows for English cooking!

LE CASSOULET White bean stew with sausages, tomatoes, garlic and meats
There are three distinct processes. The beans and meats are partly cooked separately to start with. Both are then cooked together in the cassole. If you are using confit or partly cooked meats, they are added only for the final stage.
Serves 8 - 10

for preparing the beans:
1 kg (2 ¼ lb) dried white haricot beans, preferably Lingots or Cocos
350 g ( ¾ lb) salt belly of pork with its rind, previously soaked if very salty
the meat:
2 tablespoons goose fat
500 g ( 1 lb) lean pork shoulder
2 medium-sized onions
carrot
1 kg (2 1/4 lb) Toulouse or pure pork sausage
250 g (1/2 lb) Marmande or beef tomatoes ( or small tin tomatoes )
for the cassoulet:
2 quarters confit d'oie or
3 pieces confit de canard

carrot
onion stuck with 2 cloves
bouquet garni
ham or pork bone (optional)
2 cloves garlic (more if you like)
salt
peppercorns
1 1/4 litres (2 pints) stock or water
2 large cloves garlic (more if you like)
bouquet garni
salt, pepper
fresh white breadcrumbs
goose fat

LE CASSOULET
To prepare the beans: Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water - do not leave them soaking too long or they may start to ferment. Drain and rinse them and put them into a large enamelled pan. Cover with cold water and bring slowly to the boil. Skim before adding the belly of pork, onion stuck with cloves, sliced carrot, bouquet garni, ham or pork bone, garlic and peppercorns. Allow to simmer very slowly, covered, until the beans are just tender, adding salt half way through this cooking time if there is not enough in the ham/salt pork. The time will depend on the age and quality of the beans but an hour should be enough because of the cooking they will have later. Be sure they do not become overcooked. While they are cooking, prepare the meat.
To cook the meat: If you do not already have any goose fat to hand, open your jar or tin of confit and put it in a warm place. You will then have all the fat you need. In a casserole heat the fat and in it seal the shoulder of pork, cut into 2.5 cm ((1 inch) cubes. When they are well sealed add the chopped onions and carrot and colour them. Prick the sausages and fry them separately until their skin turns golden and they have given off some of their fat. Drain them and cut into bite- sized pieces, then add these to the sauteed pork and onions. Stir in the skinned and de-seeded tomatoes and pour over enough meat stock to cover. Add the chopped garlic and seasonings and leave to simmer quite gently for an hour.
To assemble the cassoulet:
During this time prepare the confit, i.e. open its jar or tin and set it in a gentle oven to heat through and to melt the fat. Remove the skin from the confit (pop it back into the jar of goose fat to use later for an omelette filling, as on page 97). Break up the goose meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding the bones.
When the beans are just tender, drain them but keep their cooking liquor . Cut off the rind from the cooked salt belly of pork and cut up the meat. Discard the onion and carrot. Take your large earthenware casserole or cassole and lay the pork rind in the bottom, fat side down. Put in half of the beans and then a layer of all the meat. Cover this with the rest of the beans. Pour over the sauce from cooking the meat and top up with the stock plus, if necessary , some of the bean liquor so that the beans are nearly covered.
Sprinkle a good layer of fresh breadcrumbs over and put into a cool oven (150°C, 300°F, Gas Mark 2) for one hour. You should top up the level of the liquid with the bean stock so that the contents of the casserole are again nearly covered. This preparation can be done the day before. When you resume, stir in the breadcrumbs gently and put another good layer of crumbs on top. Sprinkle this all over with melted goose fat and return the dish to the oven for another 2 hours, or until the crust on top has become an appetising golden colour .