I made a great version a couple weeks back. In keeping with the spirit of cassoulet I used locally available ingredients:
Fresh garlicky polish sausage no smoke

Chicken quarters I confit'ed.

The freshest looking dry beans from the Mexican grocery.

Fresh pork shoulder.

Steph's French parents declared it delicious.

Sounds fab, Octarine! Did you get the garlic sausage at a Polish market in town?

Got it at Tony's but next time I'm going to Andys on Milwaukee.

annak wrote:Reading and prepping now to get a cassoulet ready for next weekend. Will be sourcing product from Butcher& Larder at Local Foods; any recent advice or recipe discoveries welcomed!

Made it last New Year's. Best advice I received was, "If you need pork skin go to Cermak Fresh Market at 4234 N Kedzie."

Johnsonville makes Irish O'Garlic Sausage which works well in cassoulet.

In a pinch, you may confit chicken thighs in duck fat.

I find Kenji's arguments for using chicken instead of duck confit persuasive.

What a weird coincidence that this thread just woke up.

So, a related cassoulet question. Does anyone have any suggestions for post cassoulet dessert? A lot of people recommend fruit, obviously, and something simple at that, like poached pears, but do any of you have any specific ideas or recipes?

I was also thinking of offering dessert wine or maybe a digestif in lieu of a solid dessert, but I know next to nothing about dessert wines. Do any of you cassoulet fans (or dessert wine fans) have suggestions for any particular dessert wines to follow such a heavy meal?

I used frozen confit duck (I think I got it at Mariano's) and pork belly and toulouse sausages from Local Foods (Butcher and Larder) - thank you discount coupon! The beans were Rancho Gordo Cassoulet beans and I used a boatload of home-made stock. My recipe was mostly Kenji's from Serious Eats.

Tnx for the link to Kenji's recipe. I like it, and will try it for sure. Probably next month, as an anniversary celebration for my wife and me, who met during one of Geo's Famous Cassoulet Dinners in Pittsburgh (and yes, of course I confited my own duck...). I added a couple of comments to the already-long comment list following Kenji's recipe:
I can't understand why everyone is having a problem finding salt pork: even in our awful, tiny, upstate NY mountain groceries one can always find Hormel salt pork. Problem is, it ain't at all lean and meaty, as is Kenji's.
Secondly, any decent unsmoked Polish sausage, or American andouille sausage is perfect. Finally, I'm going to add a browned lamb shoulder chop or two: that's the style I got accustomed to and I'm sure it won't offend Kenji if I make this hack to his otherwise excellent recipe!

I plan to use Rancho Gordo beans–any recommendation on which would be best? looks like some folks here and in the recipe comments don't think it matters much, so long as they're quality beans.
I'll report back!

Geo

Geo wrote:I plan to use Rancho Gordo beans–any recommendation on which would be best?

Well, as long as they're available, and they seem to be, these are the ones you want.

=R=

Tnx Ronnie! Done.

Geo

Hi,

I have always wanted to make Cassoulet, though I was hung up by the duck legs. If I could buy duck legs separately, I would have done this long ago. Kenji's recipe had a casual ease to it, so I decided work with what I could easily obtain:

- Instead of pork belly, I used three ounces of chopped bacon and another six ounces of beef bacon. I do happen to have a piece of pork belly in the fridge, but I have other plans for it.

- I was intrigued by Tim's suggestion of using Johnsonville's Garlic O'Irish sausage. While the name intrigued the stocking clerk at Jewel, she'd never heard of it. Another customer had, but never saw it. Great minds think alike: we decided a good substitute was fresh Polish, then insert pieces of garlic clove into it.

- I am using chicken legs and thighs per Kenji's article.

- Turkey stock leftover from Christmas. It had a good gelatinous quality. However, I really wanted that crust, so I added two tablespoons of gelatin to boost it, per Kenji's idea.

- Using flageolet beans picked up at a boutique gourmet store a while back.

I had to add stock at the two hour mark. I added additional stock at 3.5 hours. I pulled a bit of the edge over and added fluid there to avoid messing the crust.

Dinner will be ready in about two hours.

This effort is pretty close to Boston Baked Beans.

Regards,
Cathy2

Pix, C2, Pix! or at least a thorough tasting report!

Geo

i am soaking my michigan beans sourced at Local Foods and curing my duck legs to get things ready for this weekend!

Johnsonville seems to make several interesting varieties of sausages, especially for foreign markets. Witness these turkey and cheddar sausages I recently saw in a convenience store in Mexico.

I've enjoyed reading about the many variations of cassoulet people are putting together. As Julia Child points out, when the dish is done, the flavors have all blended so that the meats do not taste distinct. Just about any combination will be good, though for my taste it can be easy to achieve an oversalted dish, so it is important to be careful about how much confit and sausage are part of the mix. Another problem to try to avoid is that some meats may dry out. I once used pork loin, which was dry. The next year, I used pork shoulder, trimmed of external fat and it worked much better.

One thing I will do again is to make the sausage patties that Julia recommends. The Spice House has a very good mix to season them that does make them stand out in the mix of meats.

An excellent addition is the Lisbon-style chourico that can be ordered from Solmar Market in Hartford, CT. The info on ordering is in the thread entitled "Esmerelda's Turkey."

One thing, though, that I will do next time is to reserve the duck breasts and sear them at the last minute and serve them sliced on top of the cassoulet. I like the crispy fat of the skin and the rare breast as a counterpoint to the saucy beans.

Vitesse98, you asked for dessert suggestions. I think that something light and very sweet is the way to go. Something too light and not sweet/intense enough will feel like a let-down after such a hearty meal. Also, I really prefer not to have to fuss at the end of the dinner, so I went with what I consider a bit of a cheat. I made a frozen "terrine" of Ciao Bella Passion Fruit Sorbet and Vanilla Ice Cream with a few purchased plain meringues inserted between the layers of ice cream. For color, I put in a bit of sweetened plum puree I had in the freezer. (This "terrine," made the previous day, unmolded easily due to the lining of plastic wrap in the loaf pan. It also sliced easily and could be served on plates, instead of being scooped into bowls.) The key to the dessert is the intense frozen Goya passion fruit puree. I sweetened it to taste and sauced the terrine with it, which added a pucker to the dessert. If you cannot find the passion fruit sorbetto, I think an orange/blackberry terrine might make a fine substitute.

Love the talk about cassoulet. It used to be a once a year project for me but it's been awhile since I've wanted to put the effort in. I used to make my duck confit with duck breasts as I love the flavor and there is more meat than a leg/thigh. They also fit much better in the storage containers. I would generally store the breasts for about a month before serving.

Two things:

Josephine, Yelp reports that the Solmar Market is closed... : (

At the restaurant Cassoulet in Toulouse, they feature a sweet chestnut puree (basically canned creme de marron, with some vanilla, sugar, and thick cream) for dessert.

Geo

Vitesse98 wrote:What a weird coincidence that this thread just woke up.

So, a related cassoulet question. Does anyone have any suggestions for post cassoulet dessert? A lot of people recommend fruit, obviously, and something simple at that, like poached pears, but do any of you have any specific ideas or recipes?

I was also thinking of offering dessert wine or maybe a digestif in lieu of a solid dessert, but I know next to nothing about dessert wines. Do any of you cassoulet fans (or dessert wine fans) have suggestions for any particular dessert wines to follow such a heavy meal?

Sticking in the region for a post-cassoulet drink, perhaps an Armagnac.

If you can swing it, it's very much worth making your own saucisson a l'ail (french garlic sausage). It's a relatively simple, mild sausage, but not easy to find a suitable version in Chi..

My wife & I did this during our last crack at cassoulet & it made a good-sized difference. That said, Butcher & Larder and possibly Publican Quality Meats probably have something fairly close.

A couple other notes: we haven't found home-made duck confit worth the difference (Butcher & Larder sells a great version pre-made), and I wouldn't recommend lining your braising pot with pork belly or bacon (some recipes recommend it, but it adds very little flavor & makes the final product very greasy & fatty).

Possumlad--could you perchance point us toward a recipe for said saucisson? I'd be much obliged.

Geo

The recipe for Toulouse Sausage that appears in Paul Wolfert's The Cooking of Southwest France: Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine is excellent. If I recall correctly, it incorporates grinding in some cured pork, which I'm told is very traditional (in cassoulet).

=R=

I'm in the midst of sourcing things for cassoulet in a couple of weeks as well. Got the faux-Tarbais beans in my Bean Club mailing from Rancho Gordo and looking to confit the duck legs this weekend. I'll be checking out the sausage suggestions as we are likely making sausages closer to the date. This will be my second go-round at this and I'm looking forward to the process.

Geo wrote:Possumlad--could you perchance point us toward a recipe for said saucisson? I'd be much obliged.

Geo

Sure thing! We've most recently used this one and it turned out great: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/91-s ... c-sausages

Some traditional recipes (such as this one: http://www.goodcooking.com/sausage/saussion.htm) include pistachios but I prefer to omit them, especially if you're making for cassoulet.

Hi,

I had been holding off on comments on the final results of my recent cassoulet experience waiting on my pictures. Well, there are no pictures.

Kenji's method has a final 90 minutes of baking the cassoulet undisturbed. This resulted in a crunchy crust, though the beans were not as moist and certainly not soupy.

Since there seems to be the expectations of soupy beans under the crunchy crust. I will probably insert additional liquid in the last 15-30 minutes by pouring it in near the edge.

We certainly liked our first version. I believe I need to makes this a few more times before I get all the elements right.

Regards,
Cathy2

I was kindly gifted a cassoulet kit from a very generous friend, sourced from D'Artagnan. And good gravy! This is the small cassoulet kit, and it's going to feed the two of us until XMas.

Cover sheet / cooking instructions



Tarbais beans, pre- and post-soak - more than trebled in size


Beans set to cook - Added some diced baby carrots, I happened to have fresh parsley in the fridge and thyme growing in the south window. I've got another half a ventreche for another dish, likely to be a couple rounds of pasta carbonara.


The rest of the meat
The only raw, uncured meat is the duck and armagnac sausage, which got browned. It's still very soft and rich (there's liver in there). The confit has been disjointed, I've got an equivalent amount of garlic sausage, which tastes like a very young kosher salami (but porkier).


Assembly - Half the beans, all the meat, then the rest of the beans on top, with a mixture of demi-glace, water and tomato paste, and drizzled duck fat then into the oven.



Finished - I ran it in the 325 oven a little longer than I needed, but it wasn't really browned, so I turned on the broiler (at a good distance), then forgot about it for about 15-20 minutes, meaning for it to only go about 5. About a half-cup of beans at the very top turned into seashells, but the rest is fine.



The meats certainly blend in flavorwise, but have different textures: The duck sausage, greatly diminished in size, is still very soft; the garlic sausage more like andouille/kielbasa at this point, and the diced ventreche just little chewier bits. Absolutely delicious -- the very best way to use up what would otherwise be rendered-out pork and duck fat. The beans (that didn't dry out) are tender and melt in your mouth.

I can't imagine spending the kit price on this, I'm sure I can assemble it -- even with duck -- for much less.

JoelF wrote:- I ran it in the 325 oven a little longer than I needed, but it wasn't really browned, so I turned on the broiler (at a good distance), then forgot about it for about 15-20 minutes, meaning for it to only go about 5. About a half-cup of beans at the very top turned into seashells, but the rest is fine.

Looks great.

After way to many experiences like this, I always set a timer.

lougord99 wrote:

JoelF wrote:- I ran it in the 325 oven a little longer than I needed, but it wasn't really browned, so I turned on the broiler (at a good distance), then forgot about it for about 15-20 minutes, meaning for it to only go about 5. About a half-cup of beans at the very top turned into seashells, but the rest is fine.

Looks great.

After way to many experiences like this, I always set a timer.

Meant to set a timer, meant to not walk away.

I added some liquid and reheated covered, and the beans mostly rehydrated. Even better as leftovers.