Ham And Bean Cassoulet With Cornmeal Dumplings Recipes

EASY FRENCH CASSOULET WITH WINE, BEANS, SAUSAGE, HAM AND HERBS

Steps:

• In a large oven-proof skillet such as a Le Creuset or Dutch oven cook sausage, onion, and garlic over medium-low heat until meat is lightly browned and onion is tender; drain off fat.
• Add ham, parsley, and bay leaf; mix well. Stir in undrained beans, wine, and cloves.
• Bake, covered, at 325°F for 45 minutes.
• Uncover and bake 40 to 45 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.
• Serve in bowls with butter and a baguette or hot corn bread, if desired.
• Makes 6 servings.

LIMA BEAN CASSOULET

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Saute garlic in hot oil in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat, for 1 minute.
• Add in onion and carrots; stir/saute 3-4 minutes or until tender.
• Add in ham; cook 3 minutes; stir in beans, peas, and next 2 ingredients; bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make Cornmeal Crust Batter: combine all ingredients in a bowl.
• Remove bean/ham mixture from heat; pour batter over bean/ham mixture.
• Bake in oven for 28-30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

HAM SOUP AND CORNMEAL DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• 1. Place ham bone in 6 cups water and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste. Bring to boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove ham bone and discard.
• 2. Add green onions, salt, black pepper, ham, and parsley flakes to broth. Simmer one hour.
• 3. Mix ingredients for dumplings together. Dipping by teaspoonfuls, gently roll batter in the palms of your hands into approximately 1-inch balls; drop into boiling soup liquid. Make sure each dumpling is completely covered in liquid by shaking pot gently. Do not stir.
• 4. Cook 10 minutes uncovered; then cover and cook on low heat for 25 minutes.

CROCK POT CASSOULET

Steps:

• FOR THE CASSOULET: In slow cooker stoneware, combine ham hock and beans.
• In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, until softened. Add rosemary and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to slow cooker stoneware. Add chicken stock to cover beans. Cover and cook on LOW for 10 to 12 hours, until beans are tender. It would be better to do this the night before.
• In a bowl, combine salt, garlic, peppercorns and thyme. Rub mixture into pork. Place pork in a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F On a plate, combine cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Roll lamb shanks in mixture and place, narrow end up, on a broiling pan. Scrape excess salt from the marinated pork shoulder and place on same broiling pan. Roast in preheated oven for 1 hour.
• Remove Ham hock from beans. Remove tough skin and shred meat. Discard skin and bone. Cover and refrigerate meat. Stir tomato paste and bay leaves into bean mixture.
• Cut roasted pork into 1 inch squares and add along with lamb shanks to bean mixture. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours. Remove lamb shanks from mixture and scrape meat from bones. Discard bones and return meat to beans. Stir in kielbasa and reserved meat from ham hock. (See Tips) Transfer mixture to baking dishes, if necessary.
• BREAD CRUMB TOPPING: Preheat oven to 350°F In a bowl, combine ingredients. Sprinkle over cassoulet and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour.
• TIPS: Using the slow cooker to make cassoulet makes it a manageable project. Cook the beans and marinate the pork overnight. The next morning, continue cooking as directed.
• This is a large quantity of cassoulet, and when the sausage and ham meat is added, it may not fit comfortably in the slow cooker stoneware. I have a gargantuan baking dish, Mexican in origin, that I use for the final assembly You may need to transfer the bean mixture to two large baking dishes before adding the bread crumb topping. If you are serving this as a dinner dish and have enough pottery, consider spooning the cassoulet into individual serving size ovenproof tureens. Add the topping and bake as directed.
• MAKE AHEAD: This dish can be partially prepared the night before it is cooked. Complete Steps 1 and 3, cooking beans overnight. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, continue cooking as directed. Serves 12.
• Delicious & Dependable Slow Cooker Recipes.