Cassoulet, or as I like to think of beans and weenies that went to France, has been my New Year tradition for going on three decades. There are as many versions and recipes as there are chefs and cooks that venture to prepare it. Personally, I think of Cassoulet more as a construction than a recipe, best accomplished over a three to four day period. For the first twenty-some years I played with it and made annual changes. In my beginnings I was guided primarily by Julia Child (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) and Christopher Idone (Glorious Food). What follows is what has become my version and has remained largely unchanged over the past six years, or so.
Day one – the journey begins. On the first day I cook the beans and roast a pork loin.
The core and heart of Cassoulet is beans. So on day one I begin with 2 lbs of dried Great Northern white beans that will be simmered in a light chicken stock made from a blend of unsalted packaged chicken stock and water. Added flavor comes from a pound of fresh (uncured) bacon (aka pork belly) along with onion, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, whole garlic cloves, cloves and whole black peppercorns.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Prep01.jpg)
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/BeanFlav01.jpg)
Both richness and body of the beans are enhanced with the addition of fresh pork belly skin or rind (1/2 lb) that is first separately simmered in water, then cut into bean-sized pieces where it will disappear into the mix.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/PorkSkin01.jpg)
While the beans simmer to the just tender stage a 2 ½ - 3 lb piece of pork loin will be roasted.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/PorkLoin01.jpg)
First the pork loin received a traditional French dry salt marinade (rub) of salt, pepper, garlic, ground bay leaf and dried thyme for 24 hours. After removing the marinade it will be browned in rendered pork fat and then casserole roasted with onion and carrots, enhanced with some parsley, thyme and garlic. Browned, aromatics cooked until soft and herb package added the pork loin is ready for a trip to the oven while the beans still simmer.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/PorkRoast02.jpg)
When the beans are just tender the fresh bacon that cooked with them is removed and reserved and the herb packets are discarded. After cooling to room temp they will be stored overnight in a refrigerator. When the pork loin is done (IT ~ 165 °F) it is removed from the pot to cool and the liquid is strained and refrigerated for later use. At the end of day one there is a pot of richly flavored savory beans, a roasted pork loin, some braised pork belly and about a cup of intensely flavored pork stock, all being kept refrigerated
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/EndDay1.jpg)
Tomorrow, more roasting and stock production.
That already looks GOOD!!
Oooo..it does! :)
I'll be watching this one.
Carolyn
Speechless, I only need my taste buds!!!
SamuelG
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow! What a tasty looking process! I'm tuned in!
Dang Eric you never cease to amaze with your recipes
WOW!
Looks great!!
Wow, looking great
Looks good!
Thats got to be awesome! Nice Job!
Day two – the journey continues.
Today a duck, ~ 5 lb, got braised in red wine and cognac, a duck stock was made, and the beans were be re-flavored with the pork roast juices and the concentrated duck stock. It would also be the day to make the sausage, but since I did that three days ago I am spared that today.
The duck to braise and the goodies that will make it good.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/D2Prep01.jpg)
The breasts and leg quarters get removed, the remainder is reserved for stock. The parts for braising get seared in a hot dry pan (the duck will deliver all the fat needed on its own). Then the shallots, onion and carrot are sautéed in some of the duck fat until they begin to soften. A bit of chicken stock is added (~1/2 cup), some cognac (~ ¼ cup) along with some dry red wine (~ 1 cup), and an herb packet is added.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/D2Duck01.jpg)
The whole thing is brought just to a boil, covered and put in a preheated 325 °F oven for about 30 min's.
While the duck parts are braising, the remainder got cut up and turned into a stock. I added the blade bone from a pork butt that went into the Toulouse sausage.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/D2Stock01.jpg)
After about two hours when the stock is done, the stock was strained to remove the solids, duck braising liquid was added to the stock and the combined liquids, ~ 3 ½ qts, were reduced to ~ 1 qt.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/D2Beans01.jpg)
While the stock was simmering the beans from day 1 were warmed and drained of the cooking liquid in which they were kept. Once the stock was reduced it was added to the beans, along with the pork roasting juices from the previous day. The beans were then reheated just to simmer, then cooled and returned to the refrigerator for day 3.
At the end of Day 2 I have the re-flavored beans, the braised duck parts, and about 2 qts of reserved bean cooking liquid just in case, plus the pork and bacon from yesterday.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Day2End.jpg)
Tomorrow, Day 3, the sausage gets cooked, all the meats get cut into pieces, and the Cassoulet gets assembled and finished.
My goodness what a cooking lesson and it sure looks good. Do you have any sides with it? A sweet cornbread came to my mind as I watch you bring all these flavors together! ;D
This is just an awesome lesson.
It sure is LOOKING Good.
Quote from: TestRocket on December 31, 2010, 04:37:41 PM
My goodness what a cooking lesson and it sure looks good. Do you have any sides with it? A sweet cornbread came to my mind as I watch you bring all these flavors together! ;D
TR, that's a great idea. I think cornbread would go great with it. The only thing we have with the cassoulet is some crusty bread (ciabatta type or sourdough). It is a very substantial dish, and even a salad seems to be too much with it.
But there must always be room for dessert! A simple apple tart or other light fruit dessert goes well afterwards.
Any chance of the day 3 update? ;)
TR, you make a great straight man. ;D
Day 3 – the best day, finish and eat!
At the start of today I cooked the Toulouse Sausage (posted previously here (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=20014.0)), heated the beans to break the gelatinous grip of the stock and drained them in a colander over a large bowl to separate the beans from the stock. If the beans are the heart of a cassoulet, the sausage is its soul - it should be just cooked and not overdone. The sausage was given a quick pan browning then finished in a 300 °F oven for about 12 minutes to just finish it to an IT of ~ 160 °F.
The task now becomes to construct the finished Cassoulet from this pile of readied stuff
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Day3Start.jpg)
The red pot in the background is a 9.5 qt oval enameled cast iron roaster, the largest one Le Crueset makes and it weighs a ton.
The plan is to cut the meat into decent bite-sized pieces, divide them into two equal portions, and then build the cassoulet in the red pot. The construction is a bottom layer of beans, then two equivalent layers of meats separated by a layer of beans and finished with a top layer of beans. Five layers in all, three of beans and two of meats.
After the bottom layer of beans and first layer of meats it looks like this
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/FirstLayer.jpg)
As the build is continued the stock, and the reserved bean cooking liquid as needed, is added to just cover the beans. When all five layers have been built the final stock addition is just up to the top layer of beans. Then the whole thing is heated on the largest burner over medium heat to just a simmer. At that point 12.2 lbs of Cassoulet in a 17 lb pot looks like this .
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Filled.jpg)
Now it's time to add the "crust". About 6 cups of Panko are mixed with ½ cup of finely chopped flat leaf parsley and about 1/3 cup of EVOO, which is then layered over the top.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/CrustOn.jpg)
The uncovered pot then goes into a preheated 375 °F oven. After ~ 10 minutes reduce the heat to 350 and bake for a total of 1 hr 15 min. The finished cassoulet ...
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Finished.jpg)
Let it rest 10-15 min's before digging in, then it's time to eat, our New Year food tradition.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Plated.jpg)
Happy New Year to all of you.
All I can say Eric is Wow.
Dang my mouth is watering
Double Wow! Are you feeding the entire street?
I hope you had help moving that pot... I've got the smaller brother to that one, and it weighs a ton as well.
My goodness, "a very substantial dish" it is! I'm full just looking at it!
Nice job putting this together for your family and us too! ;)
Happy New Year Eric! ;D
Heaven that is all I can say.
That's some gorgeous food BLSH. Also a rather tasty pinot noir to accompany it. Great choice.
Man Oh Man, that looks awesome!
Beautiful job!
damn, now I have to go out and buy a 9.5 qt pot
Beautiful Eric!!
Thanks, folks - I really appreciate the kind words. This is great comfort food. It's a large batch, but it will give us three full great meals and it freezes very well. Everyone here loves it, even my very picky eater looks forward to it.
What I showed is my version of a very traditional cassoulet. It is very classic provincial French in style, which is very tame by the usual norms of much of what many of us prepare and show in these forums. Nothing is assertive, but the techniques and method allows the distinct flavor of each meat to clearly stand out in spite of the mix.
If you like bean and meat combinations I would encourage you to try it at least once. While this version is classic and rustic French country, the idea lends itself extremely well to smoked meats and bold assertive flavors. We often use this idea with extras from the smoker, including all the usual meats, poultry and smoked sausage. Use whatever combination of meats and sausages moves you, kick up the seasonings as much as you dare, add tomatoes, peppers or other veggies as you like. To my thinking cassoulet is a category, a method and a construction, not a recipe.
Thats is nice ;D
Hey pull me finger :D
Duck confit is a common addition in these parts.
Duck (or goose) confit is wonderful stuff and is very traditional in cassoulet around Toulouse. I did it a couple of times years ago and my own opinion was the wondrous qualities of the confit were lost in the cassoulet. That coupled with the price of the stuff here in the states (~ $15-20 / lb) for decent stuff or about half that to make your own led me to the braised duck.
3rensho -- yeah, that grape juice is a good one. That one was from the Joy Road vineyard. I also have the Coastlands in the rack. The Cobb was my second choice. My first choice was my favorite CA pinot noir -- Woodenhead, Buena Tierra (2007). Problem was when I cut and opened the capsule I found ... no cork! Never seen that before, but that bottle missed corking and the capsule held through shipping. I'll be talking with my wine guy in Monte Rio later today.
Now THATS a GOOOOD lookin pot of grub!!!!!!!!!
Makin me hungry again and I just ate a big ole bowel of Ham N Bean soup not long ago.
WOW. That looks righteous!!!
BLSH, that looks great! Sure beats the one or two I've done by throwing some smoked pork chops in with some white beans.
I'll never be able to LOOK at a can of beans in the same Loving
manner as I have before.
FANTASTIC!