Cassoulet - for a special occasion!

 

Prosper Montagne called Cassoulet the "God of southwestern french food" - a god in 3 persons, represented by ingredients sourced from 3 french cities, Castelnaudry, Carcassonne and Toulouse. Hence this recipe has a long list of ingredients, for which no apology is necessary.

This is a special recipe for a special occasion, This recipe will serve 10, enjoy making it, and above all else savour its' wonderful taste, texture and smell!

Ingredients

1 kg dry white beans, preferably tarbais or lingot

1 carrot, peeled

2 white onions, peeled, and studded with a clove 

2 white onions, peeled and sliced into thick rounds

10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

200 g fresh pork rind (ask your butcher for some for free)

1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay and parsley)

250 g uncooked garlic sausage

350 g uncooked toulouse sausage 

300 g pork belly

750 g lamb shoulder, cut into 5 cm chunks

450 g lamb neck fillets, cut into 5 cm chunks

800 g duck confit with fat (recipe available here)

3 large, very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

750 g dried breadcrumbs

good bunch of parsley

sea salt and black pepper for seasoning

Preparation and time is key for this dish, I would allow a minimum of 7 hours to prepare and cook this amazing cassoulet. Don't be put off however, as the results are truly spectacular!

Let's start with the beans. Place them in a large pot with the carrot, the 2 onions and their cloves, 6 cloves of garlic, the pork rind and the bouquet garni. Cover well with cold water, and bring up just below the boil, quite quickly. Lower the heat to a bare simmer and cook for 1 hour. Top up with a little water if necessary. After 1 hour add the uncooked garlic and toulouse sausages and allow another 15 minutes of light simmering. Now remove from the heat completely. Taste and season with sea salt and black pepper as required.

Now is time to prepare the meat. In another large pot add the pork belly and again cover with cold water. Place over a relatively high heat and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Now remove the belly pork and rinse immediately in cold water, before setting aside to drain. When cold, using a sharp knife cut into 2 cm cubes.

Now melt 4 tablespoons of confit fat, and when hot, brown the shoulder and neck of lamb pieces over a high heat until golden brown. I suggest doing this in batches, so as not to crowd the pot. Each batch should brown in 3 minutes. Set the deliciously brown and golden lamb aside. In the same pot cook the sliced onions over a low heat, stirring with a wooden spatula, gathering all the browned bits. After 3 minutes, add the prepared tomatoes, the remaining garlic and 10 tablespoons of the bean cooking liquid. Allow the the pot to bubble gently for a further 10 minutes.

Now remove and discard the bouquet garni from the bean pot. Remove the sausages, onions, and pork rind and place on a plate. Drain the beans over a bowl and retain the cooking liquid. Now add the drained beans to the pot of onions and tomatoes flavoured by the browned meat.

Preheat the oven to a very low temperature of 120 C.

Take a large terrine dish if you have one, otherwise a good casserole dish will do, and lay the pork rind on the bottom. Now slice the sausages into rounds approximately 1 cm thick. Here's the fun part! Fill the terrine with alternating layers of the meats, sausages, and the bean and tomato mixture. Ensure that the top layer is a layer of beans. Top the final layer with 2 tablespoons of the confit fat spread evenly over the surface. The liquid should reach to the top layer and just barely cover them. If not, add a little more of the bean cooking liquid.

Place in the oven and cook for 3 hours, uncovered. Check the liquid level occasionally, and if necessary top up with the bean cooking liquid.

Prepare the breadcrumbs by mixing with the finely chopped parsley leaves. After the cassoulet has cooked for 3 hours add the duck from the confit, and then sprinkle a good layer of the parslied bread crumbs and place back in the oven for a further 1 hour, until deliciously golden brown!

Serve in bowls, sprinkled with a little parsley and alongside a crisp green salad and warm baguette. A pinot noir or two would not go amiss either!

I'd seriously recommend trying this recipe, as it really is a quite spectacular example of slow cooking at its' very best.

Enjoy!

Comments

[OmnivorousBear]

I have just added making this to my list of New Year's resolutions. I will make this for the next large gathering we have - it looks utterly, absolutely fantastic.

[Paul]

Hi OB, hope you enjoy the cassoulet !

[healthy kitchen]

Just looking at it makes my mouth watering..

[Paul]

Welcome Healthy kitchen, you have a nice blog too !