weinoo

This might be decent...https://www.mypanier.com/products/cassoulet-prepared-meal

Last night I actually made a similar salad - Belgian endive, the light center leaves from a head of what is called chicory here (but is more likely curly endive), and radicchio (Chioggia, as my local greengrocer doesn't have the favorite Castelfranco). It was being served at almost every restaurant when we were recently in Florence. For the dressing I used 3 (rinsed) anchovies, 1/2 a small clove of garlic, 2 T olive oil, and 1 T white wine vinegar. I think it's important to really smash the garlic, so I like to make this dressing in a small mortal and pestle, after mincing the garlic finely. How cool is this? https://www.spadefootnursery.com/blog/2021/9/5/the-diversity-of-the-chicory-plant

I also use it as a sub for puntarelle in the classic Roman salad... Endive alla Romana. Dressing is simply anchovies, garlic, evoo, and good wine vinegar. Some people put a little parsley atop (I gotta stop watching Jacques).

Yes, I do use the cazuela on the stovetop; in this case, for browning, but often for shrimp with garlic and oil, to heat up some olives, or whatever. The key is to start on low heat. I have larger ones that I will occasionally use for soupy rice, or a stew.

I trimmed and browned these first in a little butter and olive oil (salt and pepper, of course), cut side down. Don't worry about removing the cores, as they soften up nicely in the braise (if they're giant and woody, I'd cut them out). Then turned over, add chicken stock (maybe halfway up), a little lemon juice, cover and into the oven for about 30 minutes. Take the lid off, make sure they're tender, and if there's too much liquid, just reduce it off. Some add a dash of sugar to reduce bitterness, but I don't find them bitter at all, at least not as bitter as me!

I just braise it quite simply. Since your oven will be on for the cassoulet...

Right. Robuchon, Tony, Julia all say to eat the cassoulet right out of the oven - I stopped looking after those 3.

It’s NOT a braise.

Just fucking cook it and eat.

When I braise, for example a brisket, I'll let the brisket rest overnight in its braising liquid. Slice when cold is much easier anyway, then it gets reheated in the gravy/jus. The thing about @TdeV's question is this: I don't necessarily consider a cassoulet a braise.

While what you've read about braising/reheating certainly can be true, there is absolutely nothing wrong with baking the cassoulet on the day you're planning on serving it - and then reheat and enjoy the leftovers a day or two later!

My guess is the raising of ducks is much more economical; they probably grow faster, and then the butchering of them leaves lots to sell separately to a public that is way more used to eating duck.

Ambition Shallot

Thank you. I used a shrimp stock made from the shells, white wine, water, leek, celery, onion, bay, parsley, and peppercorns. Strained the stock, bring it back to a boil, add shrimp (which were lightly brined), cover, turn off heat, and set a timer for 3 minutes. Pour it all through a strainer and laid the shrimp out on a cold plate and into the fridge for a quick cool down. Works great.

Simple New Year's Day dinner... Chirashi with poached wild Gulf shrimp, ikura, lump crab and avocado. From scratch miso soup with mushrooms and tofu to start.

After bagels and lox, I made some crepes with French jam inside, and sautéed apples.

Wild gulf shrimp with lobster sauce. Over rice.

Mise for a simple dinner... Turn that into... Spaghetti with Périgord black truffle (tuber melanosporum). Melt butter in pan, add shavings and a bunch of grated black truffle to butter. Toss spaghetti in butter/truffle, add parmesan and some pasta cooking water to make a somewhat creamy sauce. Top with slices of black truffle, parmesan, and a little parsley. One of the simplest and greatest dishes. Cooked Rancho Gordo Marcella beans, baked with bread crumbs and olive oil, to start.

No, the best thing was the buzz from the caffeine and second-hand cigarette smoke.

Italian - American style cheese ravioli with (a lot of) home-made ragu. Shredded and sautéed Brussels sprouts. The ravioli purchased from Piemonte Ravioli Company, on the same block as DiPalo's and Alleva Dairy...

I buy this stuff, but boy is it potent...https://www.lebeurrebordier.com/en/new-le-beurre-a-loignon-de-roscoff/#:~:text=The combination of two daily,flaky texture of the onion.

Coffee and Marlboro reds. We lived upstairs, in this two-family semi-detached house (Forest Hills, Queens), with my paternal grandmother and my father's step-dad (i.e my paternal step grand father) downstairs - my father's dad had been mugged and killed, in 1926, 6 months after he (my dad) was born. Upstairs: 2 bedrooms, living room, bathroom, kitchen and "dining room." There were no bars on the windows at that time, which was from 1955 - 1964, when we made the move to Nassau County - sans my grandmother and grandfather, who then rented out the upstairs to new tenants. As my grandmother was so young when her husband was killed, she had to go into the work force, and my father was basically taken care of by his aunts, until joining the Navy in like 1942. She remarried, and they lived in this house until the both departed. Anyway, they were great coffee drinkers and smokers back in the day; the whole family was, a matter of fact. So when we moved upstairs, my grandmother basically adopted me as the son she really never got to raise, and her routine was lots of coffee and Marlboro red cigs. I drank my first real percolator coffee down there (probably at the age of 12 -18 months, and never looked back. As for the smoke, well - I was a smoker for quite a few years, but gave it up a long time ago. As for coffee...well, they'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

Or just eat a little less?

Kuhn Rikon Silicone Whisking Fork with Angled Tips & Flexible Steel Core, Red (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

I use a fork. And if one is making omelettes in a classic crepe pan (as pictured) or blue steel pan properly seasoned, a fork is fine.