Cassoulet

Dunter Powries said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle, rather than what might be served at a hotel?

Thanks.

Dunty Porteous

Ingredients

1 pound dried white beans 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive
oil 1 tablespoon walnut oil 3 pounds lamb shoulder chops or
lamb shanks 1 pound garlic sausage cut into 1/2-inch rounds
4 onions, sliced 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into
1-inch wide chunks 5 cloves garlic, chopped 4 Roma tomatoes,
peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped 2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2/2 teaspoon herbs de Provence*
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon salt
4/2 teaspoon pepper 2 cups dry red wine 4 cups chicken stock
toasted bread crumbs & parsley for garnish *Much debate
about this. One recipe I know says it contains chervil,
basil, rosemary, tarragon, garlic, lavender, marjoram,
savory, thyme and parsley. Another says no, no lavender
and no garlic, and add fennel seeds. Since this recipe
calls for a fennel bulb, I'd skip the added fennel seeds.
What the hell, just throw a bunch of your favourite herbs
together - I personally love Penzey's Parisienne - Bonnes
Herbs - blend 🙂

PREPARATION:

Rinse the beans well. Place them in a large pot of water.
Bring the water to a boil, boil for 3 minutes, then shut off
the heat, cover and let the beans sit for 1 hour. Drain the
beans and rinse.

Cut the lamb into large pieces, 1 to 1-1/2 inches in size.
Do not discard the bones.

In a large flameproof casserole or Dutch oven (I use my
covered Lodge cast iron "dutch oven"😉, heat the oils until
very hot. Brown the lamb cubes and the bones and then remove
from the pan. Brown the sausages with the onion and fennel.
Add the garlic to the pan towards the end, just long enough
to cook through without browning.

Return the lamb and lamb bones to the pan and add the
tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, herbs de Provence, nutmeg,
salt, and pepper, wine and chicken stock. Stir in the beans.
Bring to a boil, and then simmer on low, covered, 45
minutes. Uncover and simmer another 30 minutes, or until the
beans are tender and the sauce is thickened.

Garnish with freshly toasted bread crumbs & fresh
snipped parsley.

Jill

Dunter Powries said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle, rather than what might be served at a hotel?

Thanks.

Dunty Porteous

Let's not start any cassoulet wars 🙂

From: La Cuisine Familiale Francaise (my translation)

Cassoulet (this is an easy version, which isn't baked)

For 8 persons

1 500g dried white beans 1 onion 250 g pork (shoulder or
breast) cut into pieces 1 good sized piece of confit d'oie
60 g goose fat or sard 8 country sausages 2 cloves garlic
minced parsley, salt and pepper 1 glass white wine 250 g
lean bacon (chopped) 2 soupspoons tomato paste breadcrumbs

Soak the beans overnight in cold water. The next day add to
boiling water with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 hours on a
moderate fire. Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan, brown the
confit and the pork in the goose fat, with salt and pepper.
Add the minced garlic and the parsley. When the meat is
brown, add the white wine and the tomato paste. Let simmer
for one hour. Add the drained beans, the bacon and the
sausages (previously fried). Cook on a low fire for 1 hour
30 mins. Transfer to a fireproof casserole, cover with the
breadcrumbs and a little melted goosefat (or butter) and
brown under a grill (broiler). Serve very hot from the
casserole.

Dunter Powries said:

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
2/4 tsp nutmeg

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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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

10. 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
4/2 lb. pork rind 1 medium carrot -- halved
5/2 large onion -- peeled and halved, each half
studded with 1 whole clove
6/2 tomato -- peeled and seeded, or 1/2 cup canned
whole tomatoes -- drained
7/2 rib celery -- halved
8/2 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
9/4 cup duck fat or olive oil 1 medium carrot --
peeled and coarsely chopped 1 onion -- peeled and
coarsely chopped
10/4 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:
11/4 cup duck fat or olive oil
12/2 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 relig-
ion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home."
-- James Michener

Dunter Powries <fech.redcaps@spedlin> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle,

rather

Quoted message said:

than what might be served at a hotel?

Thanks all. I may have bit off more than I can chew, so I've
archived the recipes to compare later when things slow down
around here.

I was wondering whether I might not touch off a cassoulet
war. In the twenty-something years I've been cooking and
eating around Boston, I can't recall having had a cassoulet
- not that made an impression, for certain.

I recently tried cassoulet using chicken thighs and kielbasa
from the Baking Sheet/bakerscatalogue.com which didn't
finish well. The instructions were muddled and I didn't take
the time to work it out in advance. At any rate, the beans
were hard and floating in broth.

Thanks again.

Dunty Porteous

--
"It tastes like burning..... waaaaa!!!!"
-Ralph Wiggum

Dunter Powries' fech.redcaps@spedlin said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle, rather than what might be served at a hotel?

Here is a very good recipe from Elizabeth David's _French
Country Cooking_ and it includes an amusing quotation of
Anatole France in original French. I posted it before.

Victor

Le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary

"Je veux vous amener chez Clémence, une petite taverne de
la rue Vavin, où l'on ne fait qu'un plat, mais un plat
prodigieux. On sait que pour avoir toutes ses qualités le
cassoulet doit cuir doucement sur un feu bas. Le
cassoulet de la mère Clémence cuit depuis vingt ans. Elle
ajoute de temps en temps, dans la marmite, de l'oie, ou
du lard, parfois un morceau de saucisson ou quelque
haricots, mais c'est toujours le même cassoulet. La base
demeure, et c'est cette antique et précieuse base qui
donne au plat une qualité comparable à ces tons ambrés si
particulier qui caractèrisent les chairs dans les oeuvres
des vieux maîtres vénitiens." So wrote Anatole France of
the _Cassoulet_, wonderful dish of south-western France,
which through the years has been raised from the status
of a humble peasant dish to one of the glories of French
cooking. Toulouse, Carcassonne, Périgord, Castelnaudary,
Gascony, Castannau, all have their own versions of the
_Cassoulet_. The ingredients vary from fresh pork and
mutton to smoked sausages, garlic sausages, bacon, smoked
pork and pigs' cheek. The essentials are good white
haricot beans and a capacious earthenware pot (the name
_Cassoulet_ comes from Cassol D'Issel, the original clay
cooking utensil from the little town of Issel, near
Castelnaudary).

For the _Cassoulet_ of Castelnaudary the ingredients are:

1 1/2-2 lb medium sized white haricot beans (this
amount will feed six to eight people; the
_Cassoulet_ is a dish to be made in quantity; it can
be heated up), a wing and a leg of preserved goose
or half a fresh goose, a coarse pork sausage of
about 1 lb or several small ones, 1/2 lb bacon, 3
onions, 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, 2 tomatoes, and, if
possible, 2 pints of meat stock.

Put the beans to soak overnight; next day put them into
fresh water and cook for about 2 1/2 hours, keeping them
just on the boil, until they are three-quarters cooked,
then strain them. In the meantime prepare the stock in
which they are to finish cooking. Slice the onions and
cut the bacon into squares and melt them together in a
pan, add the crushed garlic, the tomatoes, seasoning and
herbs, and pour over the stock and let it simmer for 20
minutes. Take the pieces of goose out of their pot with
the good lard adhering to them. (If you are using fresh
goose, it must be half roasted; have some good pork or
goose dripping as well.) Put the goose, the dripping, the
sausage, and the bacon from the stock, at the bottom of
the earthenware pot, which has been well rubbed with
garlic, and the beans on the top. Add the prepared stock.
Bring the _Cassoulet_ slowly to the boil, then spread a
layer of breadcrumbs on the top and put the pot into a
slow oven and leave it until the beans are cooked. This
will take about 1 hour, during which time most of the
stock will be absorbed and a crust will have formed on
the top of the beans. Serve it exactly as is; a good
young red wine should be drunk with this dish; a salad
and a country cheese of some kind to finish will be all
you need afterwards. Duck can be used instead of goose,
and at Christmas time the legs or wings of turkey go very
well into the _Cassoulet_.

On 05/05/04 22:34, "Dunter Powries" <fech.redcaps@spedlin> écrivut:

Quoted message said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle, rather than what might be served at a hotel?

Thanks.

Dunty Porteous

Most recipes posted here are good, the one quoted by Victor
(from Elizabeth David's book) being the simplest and most
authentic (as far as cassoulet of Castelnaudary goes). There
are several basic styles for cassoulet, revolving around
Toulouse, Castelnaudary and Carcassonne. The dish is really
a native of the Languedoc country, not so much of the
regions up North (Périgord). It can also be found in the
Béarn (Pau, Tarbes).

It is a very old dish. Before beans were brought from the
New World, it was made with broad beans.

The most important part is the beans, whatever style you
choose. They're the basis of all cassoulets and should be
chosen carefully. Not too small (no navy beans or pea beans
for instance). The best beans for cassoulet are lingots
(white kidney beans) or soissons (butter beans). Try it with
butter beans, it's really nice. In Tarbes, the wonderful -
and expensive - tarbais white beans are used. If you can
find tarbais beans, by all means use them.

All the herbs that are needed are a simple bouquet garni
(thyme, bay leaf, maybe a little savory, parsley stalks)
(and please no herbes de Provence, which are sometimes - and
very seldom indeed - used for sprinkling broiled meats,
never in simmered dishes).

The Castelnaudary cassoulet contains pork, garlic sausage
and preserved goose.

The Toulouse cassoulet contains the same ingredients, with
the addition of mutton, preserved duck (instead of goose)
and Toulouse sausage, which is a thick unsmoked sausage.

The Carcassonne cassoulet = the same, with more mutton and
no preserved duck or goose, this being replaced by
partridge.

Another secret of the cassoulet lies in "drowning the
crust". During the final stage of cooking, while the
cassoulet bakes in the oven, a "crust" appears at the
surface of the dish. This should be pushed back into
the cassoulet with a fork until a new crust is formed.
This should be "drowned" too. The crust should should
be done at least three times before the cassoulet is
considered perfect.

jmcquown said:

Dunter Powries said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle, rather than what might be served at a hotel?

Thanks.

Dunty Porteous

Ingredients

Most say this should be made with duck or goose. That would
work, but not necessary 🙂

Jill

jmcquown said:

Dunter Powries said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle, rather than what might be served at a hotel?

Thanks.

Dunty Porteous

Ingredients

1 pound dried white beans

This is too many beans for the amount of the other
ingredients. All the other versions of this same recipe all
call for half that amount of beans....

Quoted message said:

4 cups chicken stock

And half this amount of chicken stock.

-sw

Victor Sack said:

Le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary

[...]

nice recipe. Thanks Victor.

nb

Victor Sack <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dunter Powries' fech.redcaps@spedlin said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy
cassoulet, homestyle,

rather

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

than what might be served at a hotel?

Here is a very good recipe from Elizabeth David's _French
Country Cooking_ and it includes an amusing quotation of
Anatole France in original French. I posted it before.

Victor

Le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary

"Je veux vous amener chez Clémence, une petite taverne
de la rue Vavin, où l'on ne fait qu'un plat, mais un
plat prodigieux. On sait que pour avoir toutes ses
qualités le cassoulet doit cuir doucement sur un feu
bas. Le cassoulet de la mère Clémence cuit depuis vingt
ans. Elle ajoute de temps en temps, dans la marmite, de
l'oie, ou du lard, parfois un morceau de saucisson ou
quelque haricots, mais c'est toujours le même
cassoulet. La base demeure, et c'est cette antique et
précieuse base qui donne au plat une qualité comparable
à ces tons ambrés si particulier qui caractèrisent les
chairs dans les oeuvres des vieux maîtres vénitiens."
So wrote Anatole France of the _Cassoulet_, wonderful
dish of south-western France, which through the years
has been raised from the status of a humble peasant
dish to one of the glories of French cooking. Toulouse,
Carcassonne, Périgord, Castelnaudary, Gascony,
Castannau, all have their own versions of the
_Cassoulet_. The ingredients vary from fresh pork and
mutton to smoked sausages, garlic sausages, bacon,
smoked pork and pigs' cheek. The essentials are good
white haricot beans and a capacious earthenware pot
(the name _Cassoulet_ comes from Cassol D'Issel, the
original clay cooking utensil from the little town of
Issel, near Castelnaudary).

For the _Cassoulet_ of Castelnaudary the
ingredients are:

1 1/2-2 lb medium sized white haricot beans (this
amount will feed six to eight people; the
_Cassoulet_ is a dish to be made in quantity; it
can be heated up), a wing and a leg of preserved
goose or half a fresh goose, a coarse pork sausage
of about 1 lb or several small ones, 1/2 lb bacon,
3 onions, 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, 2 tomatoes,
and, if possible, 2 pints of meat stock.

Put the beans to soak overnight; next day put them into
fresh water and cook for about 2 1/2 hours, keeping
them just on the boil, until they are three-quarters
cooked, then strain them. In the meantime prepare the
stock in which they are to finish cooking. Slice the
onions and cut the bacon into squares and melt them
together in a pan, add the crushed garlic, the
tomatoes, seasoning and herbs, and pour over the stock
and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Take the pieces of
goose out of their pot with the good lard adhering to
them. (If you are using fresh goose, it must be half
roasted; have some good pork or goose dripping as
well.) Put the goose, the dripping, the sausage, and
the bacon from the stock, at the bottom of the
earthenware pot, which has been well rubbed with
garlic, and the beans on the top. Add the prepared
stock. Bring the _Cassoulet_ slowly to the boil, then
spread a layer of breadcrumbs on the top and put the
pot into a slow oven and leave it until the beans are
cooked. This will take about 1 hour, during which time
most of the stock will be absorbed and a crust will
have formed on the top of the beans. Serve it exactly
as is; a good young red wine should be drunk with this
dish; a salad and a country cheese of some kind to
finish will be all you need afterwards. Duck can be
used instead of goose, and at Christmas time the legs
or wings of turkey go very well into the _Cassoulet_.

BON! THAT'S what I was looking for!

Thanks!

Dunty Porteous

--
"It tastes like burning..... waaaaa!!!!"
-Ralph Wiggum

On Thu, 6 May 2004 21:55:59 +0200, [email hidden] (Victor

Sack) said:

Dunter Powries' fech.redcaps@spedlin said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy cassoulet,
homestyle, rather than what might be served at a hotel?

Here is a very good recipe from Elizabeth David's _French
Country Cooking_ and it includes an amusing quotation of
Anatole France in original French. I posted it before.

Victor

Le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary

"Je veux vous amener chez Clémence, une petite taverne
de la rue Vavin, où l'on ne fait qu'un plat, mais un
plat prodigieux. On sait que pour avoir toutes ses
qualités le cassoulet doit cuir doucement sur un feu
bas. Le cassoulet de la mère Clémence cuit depuis vingt
ans. Elle ajoute de temps en temps, dans la marmite, de
l'oie, ou du lard, parfois un morceau de saucisson ou
quelque haricots, mais c'est toujours le même cassoulet.
La base demeure, et c'est cette antique et précieuse
base qui donne au plat une qualité comparable à ces tons
ambrés si particulier qui caractèrisent les chairs dans
les oeuvres des vieux maîtres vénitiens." So wrote
Anatole France of the _Cassoulet_, wonderful dish of south-
western France, which through the years has been raised
from the status of a humble peasant dish to one of the
glories of French cooking. Toulouse, Carcassonne,
Périgord, Castelnaudary, Gascony, Castannau, all have
their own versions of the _Cassoulet_. The ingredients
vary from fresh pork and mutton to smoked sausages,
garlic sausages, bacon, smoked pork and pigs' cheek. The
essentials are good white haricot beans and a capacious
earthenware pot (the name _Cassoulet_ comes from Cassol
D'Issel, the original clay cooking utensil from the
little town of Issel, near Castelnaudary).

For the _Cassoulet_ of Castelnaudary the
ingredients are:

1 1/2-2 lb medium sized white haricot beans (this
amount will feed six to eight people; the
_Cassoulet_ is a dish to be made in quantity; it
can be heated up), a wing and a leg of preserved
goose or half a fresh goose, a coarse pork sausage
of about 1 lb or several small ones, 1/2 lb bacon,
3 onions, 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, 2 tomatoes, and,
if possible, 2 pints of meat stock.

Put the beans to soak overnight; next day put them into
fresh water and cook for about 2 1/2 hours, keeping them
just on the boil, until they are three-quarters cooked,
then strain them. In the meantime prepare the stock in
which they are to finish cooking. Slice the onions and
cut the bacon into squares and melt them together in a
pan, add the crushed garlic, the tomatoes, seasoning and
herbs, and pour over the stock and let it simmer for 20
minutes. Take the pieces of goose out of their pot with
the good lard adhering to them. (If you are using fresh
goose, it must be half roasted; have some good pork or
goose dripping as well.) Put the goose, the dripping,
the sausage, and the bacon from the stock, at the bottom
of the earthenware pot, which has been well rubbed with
garlic, and the beans on the top. Add the prepared
stock. Bring the _Cassoulet_ slowly to the boil, then
spread a layer of breadcrumbs on the top and put the pot
into a slow oven and leave it until the beans are
cooked. This will take about 1 hour, during which time
most of the stock will be absorbed and a crust will have
formed on the top of the beans. Serve it exactly as is;
a good young red wine should be drunk with this dish; a
salad and a country cheese of some kind to finish will
be all you need afterwards. Duck can be used instead of
goose, and at Christmas time the legs or wings of turkey
go very well into the _Cassoulet_.

A definitive book indeed. I have had it since the late 50s
and it is as relevant today, as then.

Sheena

Sophie <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 05/05/04 22:34, "Dunter Powries" <fech.redcaps@spedlin>
écrivut:

Quoted message said:

Can anyone recommend a good recipe for an easy
cassoulet, homestyle,

rather

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

than what might be served at a hotel?

Thanks.

Dunty Porteous

Most recipes posted here are good, the one quoted by
Victor (from

Elizabeth

Quoted message said:

David's book) being the simplest and most authentic (as
far as cassoulet

of

Quoted message said:

Castelnaudary goes). There are several basic styles for
cassoulet,

revolving

Quoted message said:

around Toulouse, Castelnaudary and Carcassonne. The dish
is really a

native

Quoted message said:

of the Languedoc country, not so much of the regions up
North (Périgord).

It

Quoted message said:

can also be found in the Béarn (Pau, Tarbes).

It is a very old dish. Before beans were brought from the
New World, it

was

Quoted message said:

made with broad beans.

The most important part is the beans, whatever style you
choose. They're

the

Quoted message said:

basis of all cassoulets and should be chosen carefully.
Not too small (no navy beans or pea beans for instance).
The best beans for cassoulet are lingots (white kidney
beans) or soissons (butter beans). Try it with

butter

Quoted message said:

beans, it's really nice. In Tarbes, the wonderful - and
expensive -

tarbais

Quoted message said:

white beans are used. If you can find tarbais beans, by
all means use

them.

Quoted message said:

All the herbs that are needed are a simple bouquet garni
(thyme, bay leaf, maybe a little savory, parsley stalks)
(and please no herbes de Provence, which are sometimes -
and very seldom indeed - used for sprinkling broiled
meats, never in simmered dishes).

The Castelnaudary cassoulet contains pork, garlic sausage
and preserved goose.

The Toulouse cassoulet contains the same ingredients, with
the addition of mutton, preserved duck (instead of goose)
and Toulouse sausage, which is a thick unsmoked sausage.

The Carcassonne cassoulet = the same, with more mutton and
no preserved

duck

Quoted message said:

or goose, this being replaced by partridge.

Another secret of the cassoulet lies in "drowning the
crust". During the final stage of cooking, while the
cassoulet bakes in the oven, a "crust" appears at the
surface of the dish. This should be pushed back into the
cassoulet with a fork until a new crust is formed. This
should be

"drowned"

Quoted message said:

too. The crust should should be done at least three times
before the cassoulet is considered perfect.

Very nice, thank you, Sophie.

Dunty Porteous

--
"It tastes like burning..... waaaaa!!!!"
-Ralph Wiggum

I have no recipe. When I last ordered it in our local french
restaurant (on my birthday this year) it contained white
beans (navy?). duck meat, lamb sausage, herbs (basil +
rosemary) and some diced vegetables cooked in a chidken
stock. The end result was not very wet, the beans had
clearly soaked up most of the juices.

I hope that this is somewhat helpful.

jc

*I* always pre-soak beans, then drain, rinse and FREEZE
them. This breaks the fibers and speeds up the cooking time.

Lenona.

Sophie said:

Not too small (no navy beans or pea beans for instance).

I prefer navy beans in my cassoulet.

Quoted message said:

The best beans for cassoulet are lingots (white
kidney beans)

Great Northern to the US.

Quoted message said:

or soissons (butter beans).

Lima beans? Not my taste.

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

On 10 May 2004 20:14:17 GMT, [email hidden] (Lenona321)

Quoted message said:

*I* always pre-soak beans, then drain, rinse and
FREEZE them. This breaks the fibers and speeds up the
cooking time.

Interesting concept... I haven't heard about that one.

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

On 08/05/04 08:57, "sf" <[email hidden]> écrivut:

Quoted message said:

Sophie said:

Not too small (no navy beans or pea beans for instance).

I prefer navy beans in my cassoulet.

The reason for avoiding small beans in traditional cassoulet
is simple : the skin/flesh ratio. Because the principle of
cassoulet is its being as melting as is humanly possible
(ideally, all ingredients should be of the same melting
consistency), there has to be as little bean skin as
possible. Furthermore, navy beans (at least in France, where
they're called cocos) tend to have a rather tough skin and
be the least digestible of all beans for this reason. Cocos
are more often used in soups, pressed through a sieve, or in
their fresh state, when the skins haven't toughened.

I've had cassoulet made with all types of beans, but the
best ones were always made with rather large beans,
preferably beans with very thin skin (as lima beans can be).

Quoted message said:

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or soissons (butter beans).

Lima beans? Not my taste.

Well, the most "classical" cassoulets should be made with
soissons (therefore Lima beans) if tarbais are unavailable.
White kidney beans are second choice. These are merely
indications about what cassoulet really is in its original
surroundings. Now some ingredients may have different
characteristics according to the place they were grown,
etc., and perhaps navy beans are perfect in your cassoulet.
What I was discussing here was the original state of the
dish. Not necessarily the unbreakable rules. Who would try
to make cassoulet with broad beans now? Still, the first
cassoulets in history were made this way.

Quoted message said:

Practice safe eating - always use condiments