The building of a dish over three days.. a dish I have read about and wanted to make for a few years now: Cassoulet, a rustic french white bean and meat casserole. What a fun commitment. I made my own duck confit, which consisted of a dry herb salt marinade for 2 days, then slow cooking the duck legs in rendered duck fat (which is basically like the best butter you ever tasted), for about 3 hours, then pack the legs into a tight dish, cover in the rendered fat and refrigerate for one more day. Amazingly flavorful. In the meantime, great northern beans are soaked overnight, then cooked in their soaking liquid for about 3 to 4 hours with aromatic vegetables like carrots, onions, shallot and garlic, and a big old ham hock. In a separate dutch oven, a cubed pork shoulder is browned in a couple tablespoons of duck fat. A few strips of bacon are then added as well, along with the other half of the smashed garlic, onion and carrot, a bouquet of spices (thyme, sage, 3 bay leaves and parsley tied with butchers twine), cup and a half of dry white wine, and a can of whole peeled tomoatoes. This pot cooks for about two hours. The duck confit is removed from the dish and scraped of the solidified fat, browned and then all the meat and crispy skin are removed, discarding the bones. Sausages (I used chicken sausage, out of fear of the dish being too porky) are browned in the leftover fat. The shredded duck and sliced sausage are then added to the meat stew with 2 cups chicken stock, and then reduced and simmered over low heat for an hour or so more. After the beans have cooked a while (I cooled them and then continued the following day) the ham hock is removed, and meat is cut from the shank, bones and fat discarded. The ham cubes go back in the beans and bring it back up to a simmer. Once most of the cooking liquid is absorbed, the two pots get mixed together... the meat stew and the beans. It's best to let it sit together for a while so the flavors can meld. Eventually you move it to an earthenware baking dish, and cover with lots of fresh breadcrumbs. Bake at 300 for 3 hours, then crank the heat up to 500 for 10 minutes. The recipe made a lot... I read so many recipes, probably 8 to 10 of them, some even calling for 2 lbs of beans, instead of the 1 I used... and I can't imagine how much cassoulet you'd have if you made that. But every recipe is different. Julia Child's, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, calls for lots of mutton, and I'm not a huge lamb eater. I could not find anywhere, an Alice Waters or Chez Panisse cassoulet recipe, though I know one exists since I've read about Chez Panisse often serving the peasant dish on its lower prix fix Monday night dinner, so I ended up going mostly with a recipe from Saveur, and modifying a bit based on other things I'd read in Gourmet and the Joy of Cooking. There was enough for my small dinner party, and to make 2 small casseroles for friends. I was worried it would be super intense, especially as you are told to serve it with crusty rustic bread and mild wine... Julia Child even advises it's best as a noontime Sunday dinner, since it's plethora of meats alone sets it on the heavy side. I must say I was quite surprised by how subtle the taste was in comparison to what I had been expecting all this time. My friend Theresa said that every bite was like something new.. and the breadcrumbs give it a texture that is really nice and unexpected.. it was truly delightful, and worth all the hard work. Email me for the recipe and measurements!
