Cassoulet - Three Days in the Making - Finished !

[BuyLowSellHigh]

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.





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.



While the beans simmer to the just tender stage a 2 ½ - 3 lb piece of pork loin will be roasted.  



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.



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



Tomorrow, more roasting and stock production.

[OU812]

That already looks GOOD!!

[Caribou]

Oooo..it does! :)
I'll be watching this one.
Carolyn

[SamuelG]

Speechless,  I only need my taste buds!!!

SamuelG

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TestRocket]

Wow! What a tasty looking process! I'm tuned in!     

[DTAggie]

Dang Eric you never cease to amaze with your recipes

[SouthernSmoked]

WOW!

Looks great!!

[deb415611]

Wow,  looking great

[ronbeaux]

Looks good!

[SnellySmokesEm]

Thats got to be awesome!  Nice Job!

[BuyLowSellHigh]

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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



Tomorrow, Day 3, the sausage gets cooked, all the meats get cut into pieces, and the Cassoulet gets assembled and finished.

[TestRocket]

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

[classicrockgriller]

This is just an awesome lesson.

It sure is LOOKING Good.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

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.

[TestRocket]

Any chance of the day 3 update?   ;)