The cassoulet hails from Southern France.  It is named after the dish in which it is cooked—cassolo, most often a deep cooking pot with a lid.  Apparently, there as many “authentic” cassoulet recipes as there are individual communities in Southern France, with different regions featuring different meats depending upon their availability. 

It’s a humble dish, born of peasant cooking.  However, it is complex in taste and extremely satisfying.  The cassoulet is actually rather simple to compose.  The ingredients can vary considerably, and some preparations (like duck or goose confit) may be challenging and hard to source. 

With a freezer full of Muscovy ducks, I’m always interested in ways to showcase this tasty fowl.  Cassoulet has been an excellent solution.  I favor the version that uses duck confit (legs and thighs).   You can also make this without any poultry, or by substituting chicken/turkey/pheasant etc. (legs and thighs preferred).  Some versions include lamb and other cured meats such as ham hock or salt pork.  Whatever you choose, pay attention to the salt and seasonings depending on your selections.

It seems the only ingredient de rigueur is beans—haricots.  White beans are preferred, with the tarbais  being lauded as the epic bean for cassoulet.  Whether you use great northern, navy, cannellini, lima, or tarbais, this dish will turn out great.  Below is my version I’ve been making.  BTW, it freezes great.

Ingredients:

• 2 C dried white beans
• 8 oz pork shoulder, cubed in 1 inch chunks
• 8 oz Andouille sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 confit duck legs and thighs (see note below with ingredients and method)
• 1 C rough chopped onion
• 1 C rough chopped carrot
• 2 T garlic
• 4 C duck or chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t dried thyme or 2 t fresh thyme
• 2 T tomato paste
• 3 T duck fat (plus 2-3 C for the confit–below)
• 1/3 C breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste

***For the duck confit:

• Set oven to 275-300 F
• Salt and pepper the duck.  Place the duck legs and thighs into a small baking casserole with a lid.  You want to have them in a single layer within the smallest container.  This way, you’ll use less fat.  It can be hard and expensive to come by duck fat.  (BTW,  you are going to save everything and freeze it for the next time, so none of it will go to waste.)
• Cover with duck fat.
• Place in oven and cook on very low for 2-3 hours or until the meat can easily be pulled away from the bone. (An alternative to this is to put the legs and thighs into a sous vide bag, add 1 C of duck fat and sous vide for 2 hours at 150 F.)
• Pull the meat off the bone in large sized pieces.  Don’t shred.  (Or, just cut the joints apart and leave everything on the bone.  This will leave you with four nice pieces, just enough for this recipe.)
• Store it in your fridge and cover it with duck fat, where it will last weeks.  By cover, I mean over the top of everything.  Best to use an oven-proof dish, as you will need to warm it later.  If you are going to use this right away, then you don’t need to worry about storing in fat.
• When you are ready to use the confit, you will need to warm the dish in the oven in order to lift the duck out of the solid fat.***

Method:

• Soak beans overnight in water.   Afterwards, drain and rinse.  Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 325 F.
• Gently warm your duck confit in a low oven in order to remove it from the solidified fat (if you’ve fridged it).  Then broil it until just crispy.  Set aside.  (Don’t forget to save your duck fat for other cooking adventures.)
• Salt and pepper the pork cubes generously.
• Heat 3 T duck fat in casserole and sauté the pork cubes until just brown.  Remove and set aside.
• Add to the pan the onions and carrots and sauté until slightly browned.  Add salt and pepper also.
• Make a clearing in the onions and carrots and add the tomato paste to cook it for about 30 seconds.  Then add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
• Add some of the broth to deglaze—really scrub your spoon around to dislodge all the tasty fond (caramelized bits) on the bottom.  Then add the rest of the broth, the pork, the beans, the sausage, and your duck confit.
• Give it a good stir and add the bay leaves and thyme.
• Bring to a simmer on your stove top, then plop into your oven.  Put the cover on the casserole dish!  I always put mine on a baking sheet in case there is any spillover.
• Bake at 325 F for 2 hours.  Check to see if beans are soaking up liquid and are getting soft.  You can add more broth if you like.  You can cook longer.  If your beans are older, it will take more time.
• Once the beans are to your liking in terms of doneness, take the cover off and sprinkle on breadcrumbs.
• Turn the oven up to 375F for 30 minutes or until a crust forms on top.  (Note:  this is not an authentic way to get the browning, which requires pressing down the mixture repeatedly during cooking until a crust forms.  This breadcrumb way works for me.)

What else to add? I have added 1 cup of chopped collards and substituted 1 cup of dry wine (red or white) for 1 cup of broth. All are great!

Serve with hearty bread and a green salad dressed with a vinaigrette.  Endive is classic and made with a walnut oil dressing. 

This is even better on day 2.  I usually add a bit more broth to it when reheating.

For other similar dishes see Kentucky Burgoo.

Stay Briny,

–Stacey