Moderately Meaty Cassoulet Recipes

SPEEDY CASSOULET

Steps:

• In 3-quart saucepan, heat beans, tomatoes, broth and kielbasa to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat.
• Stir in bell peppers. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Make cassoulet:
• Cover beans with cold water by 2 inches in a bowl and soak at room temperature at least 8 and up to 24 hours, or quick-soak (see cooks' note, below). Drain well in a colander.
• Make a bouquet garni by wrapping parsley, bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and 2 sprigs thyme in cheesecloth and tying with kitchen string, then put in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot along with pork shoulder and water (4 quarts). Simmer, uncovered, skimming froth occasionally, 1 1/4 hours.
• Add beans, onions, carrot, and chopped garlic and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are just tender, about 45 minutes.
• While beans simmer, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners and heat 1 tablespoon oil in roasting pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown duck legs, turning occasionally to brown skin and meat all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer duck legs with tongs to a platter as browned.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from roasting pan, then reduce heat to moderately low and cook halved garlic cloves, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
• Drain bean and pork mixture in a colander set over a large bowl (discard bouquet garni). Stir salt and pepper into broth in bowl and reserve.
• Spread bean and pork mixture in roasting pan (with garlic halves), then nestle duck legs, skin sides up, in mixture. Add remaining 3 sprigs thyme and 6 cups reserved broth (liquid should come up around base of duck legs; reserve remaining broth, covered and chilled, for reheating if making dish ahead, or for another use). Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes.
• While cassoulet bakes, heat remaining tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. If necessary, halve sausage crosswise to fit in skillet, then brown, turning occasionally, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cool slightly. When sausage is cool enough to handle, halve pieces lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
• Nestle sausage into cassoulet and bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes. Gently stir beans, mashing some with back of spoon, to thicken broth before serving.
• Prepare garlic-crumb topping while cassoulet finishes baking:
• Cook garlic in oil in cleaned 10-inch skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bread crumbs, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until crumbs are crisp and golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in parsley.
• Serve cassoulet with crumb topping.

CHEF JOHN'S CASSOULET

Steps:

• Rinse soaked beans and drain.
• Pour broth into a large pot. Add chopped pancetta, bones from duck confit, and the drained beans. Tie bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme sprigs, and garlic into a small square of cheesecloth to create the bouquet garni; add to the pot. Stir. Bring to a simmer over high heat; skim foamy scum that forms, if desired. Reduce heat to low until beans are almost tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Sprinkle pork pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; brown the pork pieces, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add sausage to the skillet and cook in the same oil, turning until nicely browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes. Cut sausages in half and transfer to bowl with pork pieces.
• Remove fat and skin from duck confit and add them to the same skillet. Cook over medium heat until fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Transfer all fat and browned pieces from the skillet to a mixing bowl. Add melted butter. Stir in bread crumbs and chopped parsley; stir until mixture looks like damp sand. Mix in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup broth.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place onions, carrots, and celery in the same skillet used to brown the meats; add pinch of salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions are translucent and mixture turns golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook and stir until tomato paste starts to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan, 3 or 4 minutes. Pour in white wine; cook and stir until most of the wine evaporates, 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Drain beans over a large bowl to retain all the cooking liquid. Remove bones and bouquet garni.
• Place drained beans in large shallow baking dish or cast iron skillet (about 12 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep). Stir in cooked vegetables and about 1 cup broth. Add pork pieces and distribute evenly among the beans. Top with the shredded duck confit. Nestle the sausage halves into the bean mixture.
• Ladle cooking liquid into the baking dish until beans are nearly submerged. Spread bread crumb mixture evenly over the top but don't press into the liquid. Use your fingertips to make gentle indentations on the crumb surface for better browning.
• Bake in preheated oven until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and create a small "well" in the center of the cassoulet crust. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid (or as needed) into the well to rehydrate mixture. Use a fork to gently poke into the cassoulet to ensure the liquid is fairly evenly distributed but try not to disturb the crusty surface.
• Continue baking until cassoulet surface is crispy and caramelized, the meat is fork tender, and the beans are creamy and tender, about 30 to 45 more minutes.
• Serve in large bowls with a spoonful or 2 of hot cooking liquid. Top with chopped fresh parsley.

CHEF JOHN'S QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Add bacon to a large, cold oven-ready skillet. Place over medium heat and cook for 10-12 minutes, until almost crisp. Transfer to a bowl, reserving the grease in the pan.
• Stir in sausage slices; cook 3-4 minutes. Add chicken thigh pieces; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until browned. Remove meat to the plate with bacon. Discard all the oil, but don't wipe out the pan.
• Add chopped onion and turn the heat to medium-low; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add 1 cup of chicken stock.
• Mash about 1/4 of the beans in a small bowl, stir all the beans into the pan.
• Stir in cayenne, rosemary and thyme. Add reserved meat back to the pan. Stir in remaining cup of stock or more if needed to cover. Return to simmer.
• Mix bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano and melted butter together in a small bowl.
• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 7 inches from the heat source.
• Sprinkle the cassoulet with half the bread crumb mixture. Place under the broiler and cook about 5 minutes, until browned.
• Remove the pan and push bread crumbs down into the cassoulet. Top with remaining bread crumb mixture. Return to oven and continue broiling 5 more minutes, until browned.
• Turn off the broiler and leave in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes. Enjoy.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Bundle parsley, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, celery, and leek to form a bouquet garni, wrapping kitchen twine around the aromatics several times to secure -- which ensures easy retrieval of the ingredients after they've infused the cooking liquid with flavor.
• Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add fatback or pork belly, and cook until it is golden on all sides and has begun to render its fat, about 5 minutes. Add pork shoulder, and cook until golden on all sides, about 8 minutes total.
• Stick clove in half the onion, and add to pot along with bouquet garni, ham hock, carrot, tomatoes and juice, and beans. Add enough cold water to cover by 1 to 2 inches (about 8 cups). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until beans are tender throughout but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat. Discard carrot, onion, and bouquet garni. Transfer ham hock to a cutting board, reserving liquid, and let cool slightly. Trim meat and gelatin from the bone, dicing and returning them to the pot. Discard the bone.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Rub cut side of garlic clove over the entire inner surface of a small (5-quart) Dutch oven or other ovenproof vessel. This allows a subtle though distinct garlic flavor to infuse the resulting cassoulet.
• Using a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon, place half the bean mixture in the Dutch oven, spreading it evenly. Leave the cooking liquid in the pot.
• Arrange the duck confit and sausage on top of the beans in the Dutch oven to create a single, snug layer. Spoon the remaining beans over the meat, reserving the cooking liquid.
• Add enough cooking liquid so the beans are almost, but not quite, submerged. Reserve the remaining liquid. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Check the liquid every 30 minutes to make sure it is no more than 1/2 inch below the beans, and add liquid or water as necessary. Do not stir.
• After the cassoulet has cooked for 2 hours, toss bread and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over cassoulet, and return to oven until beans are tender and bread is golden, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Before serving, let cassoulet stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to cool and to allow the beans to absorb some of the liquid. You can refrigerate cassoulet in an airtight container for up to 3 days; rewarm in an oven heated to 300 degrees.

MICHAEL LEWIS'S CASSOULET DE CANARD

Steps:

• DAY 1 Act 1: Nasty Work
• Bring 5 quarts water to a boil in an 8-quart heavy pot. Boil beans, uncovered, 1 1/2 minutes, then turn off heat and let them soak 50 minutes.
• While beans soak, do all the really disgusting work with the meat. Put pork rind in a 3-quart saucepan three-fourths full of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil pork rind 1 minute. Drain and rinse under cold running water, then do it again. (Sometimes you know it's ready because it grows nipples.) After draining, cut the truly repulsive boiled pork rind into pieces that are big enough to identify (about 2 inches), so you can fish them out before serving.
• Scrape off and discard fat from confit duck legs and shred meat (the more it shreds the better). [Editors' note: Those who have no problem with identifiable meat in their food might want to keep the shredding to a minimum.]
• Act 2: Slightly Less Nasty Work
• Put parsley stems, thyme, whole cloves, and 8 garlic cloves in cheesecloth and tie into a bundle to make a bouquet garni.
• First seasoning of beans: Add rind pieces, bacon halves, 1 cup onion, bouquet garni, and salt to beans. Simmer, covered, 1 1/4 hours, skimming regularly. Cool, uncovered.
• While beans simmer, brown mutton bones. Do this by heating goose fat in enameled cast-iron pot over moderate heat until it smokes, then cook mutton bones, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Set them aside on a plate. Drop remaining 2 cups onion into pot and brown that, too. This can take as long as 15 minutes. Stir regularly.
• Peel seed, and chop tomatoes.
• Act 3: Nasty Gets Nice
• Flavoring the meat: Add browned bones and shredded duck to onion. Add bay leaves, beef stock, tomatoes, remaining 4 garlic cloves, white wine, and pepper. Simmer, covered, 1 1/2 hours. Cool to room temperature,uncovered.
• Put pot with meat and pot with beans in refrigerator, covered, overnight.
• DAY 2 Act 1: Crescendo (1 hr)
• Poke holes in sausage with a fork and grill it slowly in a well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately low heat 20 minutes (to get the fat out). (Sausage should still be slightly undercooked on the inside when you're done.) Transfer to a cutting board and cool slightly. Slice into thin (1/4-inch) rounds.
• Remove and discard bones and bay leaves from meat pot. Remove duck with a slotted spoon and put on a plate. Reserve cooking liquid remaining in pot.
• Remove bacon from beans and cut into tiny, fat-free pieces. Put pieces on a plate and discard remaining bacon fat. Discard pork rind and bouquet garni from beans.
• Julia Child says: "Now is the time to drain the beans and dump them into the ample, leftover meat cooking juices." In my experience, there is nothing left to drain. What you are looking at, when you stare into the bean pot, is a fairly solid wall of beans, with some gluey goop in between. So, pour reserved meat cooking juices into bean pot. Bring to a simmer over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, and simmer 5 minutes, skimming any scum. Then turn off heat and let sit another 5 minutes.
• Act 2: Final Assembly
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Spread a layer of beans on bottom of enameled cast-iron pot. Layer half of sausage and bacon on top, then another layer of beans, then half of duck (and any mutton), then another layer of beans, et cetera, ending with a layer of beans. Then add enough remaining liquid from bean pot until beans are submerged. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and parsley.
• Bring the whole thing to a simmer, uncovered, over moderately low heat. Then stick it in oven 20 minutes. Break through bread crumbs in several places with a spoon, allowing the liquid to mess up the look of the thing. Then reduce heat to 350°F and leave it in another 40 minutes. Serve very hot.

MODERATELY MEATY CASSOULET

Steps:

• Place the beans in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon table salt (or 2 tablespoons kosher salt). Add cold water until beans are covered to a depth of 2". Let stand at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse.
• Preheat oven to 250°F In a large Dutch oven, combine beans, ham shank, rosemary, thyme sprigs, intact onion half, garlic cloves, bay leaf and 8 cups cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and transfer to the oven until beans are tender, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, trim the stem end of the garlic head. Coat with 2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and wrap loosely in foil. Place in oven to roast alongside the beans.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add the kielbasa and cook until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, minced onion and minced thyme. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms give off their liquid and it has evaporated, and the onions are soft, 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until the beans are done.
• When the beans are cooked, increase oven to 350°F Remove pot from oven, then remove and reserve the ham shank. Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, onion half, garlic cloves, and bay leaf. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Place 1 1/2 cups of reserved cooking liquid in a saucepan (discard the rest). Reduce by half over medium heat.
• Carefully remove the garlic head from the foil, reserving any oil. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the cooked cloves into the reduced cooking liquid; mash, then whisk well to combine. Return this mixture to the beans.
• The meat from the ham bone may be shredded and added to the beans at this point, if desired. Add the mushroom-onion mixture to the beans. Stir well, then pack into a 9x13" casserole. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, then drizzle with reserved garlic oil (if there isn't enough, add plain olive oil). Bake uncovered in preheated oven 25 minutes. Increase heat to broil for 5 minutes to crisp the top before serving.