Cook-off 1: Cassoulet

[Kim D]

Thanks for the suggestion...

Right after my disappointment at the Mexican grocery (DelRay Farms on Argyle), I walked down the street to the Vietnamese grocery store (the name escapes me). They were closed. I remember seeing pork belly there but I don't remember seeing the rind. I will definitely try again the next time I need it.

For now, I am on a quest for sausages. I'm heading out the door to Fox & Obel.

I find it ironic that pork bellies are traded in the futures market and yet I can't find them today (or yesterday) in my local market. Maybe if I shop tomorrow.

- kim

Edited June 24, 2005 by Kim D (log)

[Kim D]

I have learned so much from this thread.

I knew that you can break the crust up to 7 times. What I didn't know was that the crust did not involve bread crumbs.

Um, I know I learned more than that but that's all that's coming to mind.

I picked up Tarbais beans (since we don't know how to pronounce Tarbais beans, we just call them Tar-Babies) at Borough Market earlier this year. I already had Duck Confit in my fridge because I made it when everyone else made it. I had chicken broth made with chicken feet in my freezer. And I used the recipe (more or less) from Les Halles. Hands down, this was the easiest cassoulet I have ever made and the absolute best.

Are Tarbais beans worth the money? Fuck, yeah! Did I say that? They make the dish. Creamy texture like no other beans I've had. I could just eat the beans and be happy.

I love duck confit but I've always felt that the flavor got lost in my other recipe. I think that maturing it for months made a significant difference.

I used salt pork (soaked overnight) for the pork belly and rind and the next time I will search out the real thing. I was not impressed with the rind I cut off from the salt pork. It just sat in the bottom of my pans looking flabby and inedible.

Next time I'll make my own sausage, too. All I could find was knockwurst and while it was okay, I would have preferred a sausage with some texture.

I made it in two pots because I wanted to see if there was a taste difference. I didn't notice one. My husband did but only with the taste of the duck. I pulled the duck off the bone for my Le Creuset because I was afraid the cassoulet would overflow. I put the whole duck legs and thighs in the bean pot.

And here's a closeup showing the crust.

I can't wait to make it again but I'll have to because I still need to make duck confit and I want it to mature for a few months. And I need to go back to Borough Market! Man, I love that place.

- kim

[little ms foodie]

those look beautiful! It almost makes me wish it was winter but that will come soon enough. Maybe I'll plan on making the duck confit and aging it as you did. Did you store your confit in the fridge or at room temp?

[Kim D]

Thank you! My very first pictures on eGullet.

It's been in the 90s all week here in Chicago. Me, I'll eat comfort food any time of the year. We sat outside on our deck sipping a cool Riesling and eating goat cheese from Capriole while the cassoulet was in the oven.

I kept my duck confit in the fridge in a bowl. It was fully submerged in duck fat. Even so, I wondered if it would be okay to eat. I nibbled a piece the day before just to see if I'd get sick. I didn't, so I figured it was okay.

Did I mention how great those Tarbais beans are? I just looked at the package. A kilo set me back 14.50 GBP. I'm guessing that's right around $25. Worth every penny.

- kim

[little ms foodie]

I purchased Tarbais beans last time I ordered from D'Artangnan and have them in my pantry for the next cassoulet!

[hathor]

Kim D: your cassoulet looks fantastic, and it was a good 'experiment' to see if the duck was a proper perservative...but your store top looks amazing! What kind of range is that?

[snowangel]

Kim, how long ago did you confit? Do you think that more than the pot that the cassoulet was cooked in that having bones in made a bigger difference?

[Kim D]

IIRC, I made the duck confit mid-March. And now I'm all out.

I had to read through the duck confit thread to try to remember when I made it. Wow, what a great thread. Malawry had one of the many great posts.

Since my husband noticed the difference in the taste of the duck and not me, I asked him why he thought one tasted better than the other. He thinks that the shredded duck gets its flavor leeched out and the big pieces don't because they have less exposure to the liquid.

He also said that there needs to be more duck. I point this out because when we first got together, duck was just about the only thing he wouldn't eat. I have converted him to a duck lover and he now orders it whenever he sees it on a menu.

- kim

[SobaAddict70]

It's that time of year again.

Will you be making cassoulet? We'd love to hear from you and yours!

(oh and incidentally, next week's Foodblog will feature a little of this:

Soba

[A Patric]

Dear all,

So I notice that most of you are using Le Creuset casseroles for the cassoulet, but I notice that Paula Wolfert pointed out that traditionally cassoulet are cooked in large glazed clay pots and that the end result is less dry for this reason.

I don't have a Le Creuset or a clay pot, but I do have an unused (i.e. has just been sitting in the closet since I was given it) ceramic casserole. Do you think that this would do a good job, or should I look at investing in something else. I simply want the best tool for the job.

Edited:

Also, where are you getting your Tarbais beans? I have heard great things about Rancho Gordo beans and so was thinking about trying these Flageolet:

http://www.ranchogordo.com/Merchant2/merch...ory_Code=DHAHB4

as a substitute. Good or bad idea?

Thanks for the info.

Alan

Edited March 5, 2006 by A Patric (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Funny you should mention this. I was snooping around a local Portuguese store for a good clay bean pot yesterday. I think you should give it a try, record it, and see what happens! Given Paula's new work on clay pot cooking, it's pretty likely she'd weigh in at some point.

[A Patric]

Thanks for the response. I am still interested in my question about the beans (a couple posts up), and I have found something that Paula Wolfert apparently commissioned:

http://www.claycoyote.com/store/index.cfm/...id/62/index.cfm

If this is the case, I would like to know a bit more about it, and why it makes such a difference in the final product.

It seems reasonably priced.

Alan

Edited March 5, 2006 by A Patric (log)

[Wolfert]

I think the unglazed terracotta alcatra, a wider-at-the-top bowl, sold at some Portuguese cookshops will work well for cooking a cassoulet, but I don't think it will work as well for simply cooking beans.

Photo of an alcatra:

http://portodaspipas.blogs.sapo.pt/arquivo/250445.html

Here is why___

The ideal pot for cassoulet (a combined dish of cooked beans and lots of other good things) should have a very wide opening at the top in order to produce a slow and steady evaporation of excess moisture and a brown glaze.

The ideal pot for a simple cooking of white beans should have as narrow as possible opening. The beans cook with just enough liquid to cover along with some aromatics and plenty of olive oil. The narow top inhibits evaporation.

A perfect example is a fiasco of Tuscan white beans.

Photo of a fiasco:

http://www.apt.arezzo.it/itinerari_natural...ges/fagioli.jpg

Edited March 5, 2006 by Wolfert (log)

[Marc Olson]

I ordered a cassole from Clay Coyote back in January. They were in the process of firing them so I was able to order it with the same 'sunflower' glaze as featured on the cover of Paula's book. It arrived a little over a week ago and is beautiful...and big!

It's sitting awaiting a weekend of time when I can break away from skiing to cook again, cassoulet is near the top of my list of things to cook first.

[A Patric]

I ordered a cassole from Clay Coyote back in January.  They were in the process of firing them so I was able to order it with the same 'sunflower' glaze as featured on the cover of Paula's book.  It arrived a little over a week ago and is beautiful...and big!

It's sitting awaiting a weekend of time when I can break away from skiing to cook again, cassoulet is near the top of my list of things to cook first.

←

I ordered one this morning. I expect that it will be beautiful and functional. I'll post pics of the cassoulet when it is done (in about 2 months)

Alan

[Smithy]

The ideal pot for a  simple cooking of white beans should have as narrow as possible opening. The beans cook with just enough liquid to cover along with some aromatics and plenty of olive oil. The narow top inhibits evaporation.

A perfect example is a fiasco of Tuscan  white beans.

Photo of a fiasco:

http://www.apt.arezzo.it/itinerari_natural...ges/fagioli.jpg

←

I originally read that line as "Portrait of a fiasco" and thought it could describe many of my projects. Seriously, I didn't realize that "fiasco" referred to a flask. I wonder how it came to mean a disaster?

I've heard time and again about the wonders of cooking Tuscan white beans in a bottle. I have yet to try it. How do you get all the beans back out, and why don't some of them stick to the sides? I particularly wondered that about the narrow-necked bean pots I saw in Egypt; they were made of clay, and were opaque - how would you know if you got all the beans? - and were clearly not intended for a single use only. (I can imagine cooking beans in an old jug and throwing the jug away afterward.) Does the liquid carry all the beans out, in one sluice? Is the ensuing mess responsible for the common American meaning of "fiasco"?

[A Patric]

Dear all,

I just got a copy of Bourdain's Les Halles today. I finished making my confit yesterday, and am waiting for the cassole to arrive from here:

http://www.claycoyote.com/store/index.cfm/...id/62/index.cfm

Also, I found a useful place for hard to find pig parts:

http://www.nimanranch.com/

I don't know if there is a better place or not.

I am still searching for reasonably priced tarbais beans.

The cassoulet making will begin in T minus 59 days.

Edited to add: I still haven't made any sausages yet. Did you all decide on a good recipe?

Alan

Edited March 9, 2006 by A Patric (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Not much better than Niman Ranch for the swine. And Paula's recipe for garlic sausages looks pretty damned great to me.

[A Patric]

Thanks for the confirmation and the link to the recipe.

I just realized that the recipe calls for pork rind and pork belly. Am I correct in thinking that pork rind is simply skin with the layer of fat attached beneath it, and if this is the case, can I just buy some pork belly with the skin still attached and cut it off in order to get pork rind? This would be easy enough as Niman Ranch sells pork belly in 8.5 lb packages which should supply plenty of skin with attached fat. Or, is there actually a product called "pork rind" that comes from a specific place on the pig, and where would I find this?

Thanks again.

Alan

Edited March 9, 2006 by A Patric (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Am I correct in thinking that pork rind is simply skin with the layer of fat attached beneath it, and if this is the case, can I just buy some pork belly with the skin still attached and cut it off in order to get pork rind? 

←

You are correct, sir!

[Doaksey]

Hi all, Im new here, go easy. Hope I'm not too late !

I had a go at Cassoulet the other night, here's the result;

I'd like to try it again but changing a couple of things. Lining the dish with cooked crackling and adding the fat seperatly, so the sauce will still benifit from the gelatanous qualities of the fat but introducing another texture to the dish.

My duck legs were pertty small (I took them off of Sainsbury's "On offer" gressinghams which, judging by the size of them are bred for breast meat) but my bangers made up for that.

Served with a chewy sourdough, and it all went between 4 of us.

Anyone else had any thoughts on adding or removing from this classic ?

[Lynnette]

I made cassoulet for the first time last month, after reading through this forum and a couple of Paula Wolfert's. It took almost a month to gather all the ingredients, and first make the duck confit, but the result was well worth it.

I used Paula's recipe in The Cooking of SW France. Here is a picture of one of the casseroles (I had to use 3, not having the larger size)

[jayt90]

Hi all, Im new here, go easy. Hope I'm not too late !

I had a go at Cassoulet the other night, here's the result;

like to try it again but changing a couple of things. Lining the dish with cooked crackling and adding the fat seperatly, so the sauce will still benifit from the gelatanous qualities of the fat but introducing another texture to the dish.

My duck legs were pertty small (I took them off of Sainsbury's "On offer" gressinghams which, judging by the size of them are bred for breast meat) but my bangers made up for that.

Served with a chewy sourdough, and it all went between 4 of us.

Anyone else had any thoughts on adding or removing from this classic ?

←

Lining with crackling is a good idea.

I don't see beans in the photo, or a crust of breadcrumbs, punched down and brownes several times. Can you decribe the ingredients?

[bleudauvergne]

I made cassoulet for the first time last month, after reading through this forum and a couple of Paula Wolfert's. It took almost a month to gather all the ingredients, and first make the duck confit, but the result was well worth it.

I used Paula's recipe in The Cooking of SW France.  Here is a picture of one of the casseroles (I had to use 3, not having the larger size)

←

Beautiful cassoulet there. I'm curious, did you taste all three and did you discern any differences between the three?

[tammylc]

I'm about to begin my first venture into cassoulet - I have sourced most of my ingredients, and will begin soaking beans tomorrow for dinner on Sunday. Unsurprisingly, I haven't been able to find any tarbais beans, and don't have time to mail order. What's the next best alternative? My choices are Great Northern, cannelini, flageolets or French navy beans.

I'm using the Les Halles recipe and will post about my progress as I make some, but I'd love to hear opinions on the bean question.

Thanks!