Cassoulet?

Question

Does anyone have experience making cassoulet?
I have a fresh duck and want to 'change things up a bit for my contribution to Christmas diner.
Never made it before. Any tips are gratefully appreciated. Yes I can 'Google' all kinds of info but someone actually sharing their experience where I can ask questions is what makes CH such a great site.

Answer

I've made Cassoulet, and am making it for Christmas Dinner. The only parts of the duck that traditionally goes into Cassoulet are the confit legs. In order to confit your legs, you would have had to start last week.

Other ducky items in the dish are a couple of different sausages. The tarbais beans need to be soaked overnight and then cooked with ventreche/bacon before assembling the dish. I chose it because I can do most of it ahead, and then put it in the oven for the long baking period on Wednesday morning. Besides, it feeds an army. If you are still interested and have questions, I think my email addy is on my info page here.

Imho, the definitive recipe is in Paula Wolfert's book, "The Cooking of Southwest France." She learned to make it from the master, Andre Daguin.

Answer

I made a cassoulet about a week ago, but I made it in one day. 

I used a recipe in a book called The French Slow Cooker and made it in (duh) my slow cooker. It was remarkably good and required none of the multi-day prep, provided that you buy prepared duck confit. It had incredible flavor and my guests raved.

Answer

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/755211#6157859

This is a nice write up by a fellow Chowhounder.

Answer

I love Cassoulet and make it often. I've done the long versions… even the Paula Wolfort one, which I spread over 5 days, even using pork skin to line the pot. It was wonderful. But a friend of mine who is an excellent cook devised a 'quick fire' cassoulet I love. It's a great weeknight dish and would be perfect for your duck. It's a throw things together dish. Here you go:

QUICK FIRE CASSOULET

If you have time, marinate chicken legs/thighs and/or duck or pork chops overnight in salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil and thyme/rosemary (or whatever you have.) 

Bring to room temp. Sear them on each side until crispy, then remove from pan. 

Next add chopped bacon and onions, chopped celery and carrots, garlic, and some chopped fennel if you have it. 

Caramelize these very well, a good long time. Deglaze with a shot of whiskey (of course) then add stock, 2-3 cans of white beans, bring to simmer, adjust seasoning. 

Add back chicken legs, pork chops and some sausages, partially submerged in your beans. Throw in oven until chicken is cooked through. 

I usually remove chicken from pan, top with Panko/Parmesan/parsley then broil until browned, then hit it with some more parsley.

Answer

Back in the late seventies when I was working in French restaurants Chef Jean Jacques Rachou made the best cassoulet in NYC @ his restaurants Le Lavandu and Le Cote Basque.
http://tastyplanner.com/recipes/jean-jacques-rachou%E2%80%99s-cassoulet

Answer

Thanks for sowing the seed to make this dish again. I simply love it, and think it might be a great dish to make between Christmas and New Year's. 

I love this older thread on Cassoulet. A number of different versions are discussed. 
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/482415
Happy Holidays!

Answer

I occassionaly make cassoulet, but have never actually included confit of duck legs. I just use sausage and chicken thighs. If it's not authentic, sue me.

Answer

When I was a young cook working in French restaurants I was frequently responsible for the "family meal". This is the meal given free of charge to the employees before both lunch and dinner service. Two rules applied: don't spend too much time or money preparing this meal.One restaurant where I worked had a staff of mostly French born or at least French speaking employees (the dishwashers and bus boys were Haitian). I used to make a mock cassoulet with white beans and inexpensive and leftover meat. Chicen legs, pork shoulder, kielbasi were the mainstays As long as it had that nice breadcrumb topping they loved it! It doesn't have to be an expensive time consuming production.

Answer

I am very fond of the recipe in MTAOFC but it seems to me to be a concept that lends itself to a lot of variations. I like to make it when I have leftovers of a couple of kinds of roasts. To me the only part that never changes is tending to the crust.

Answer

I cook the beans until just tender, then put them in the pot with whatever the meats are (except for any sausages) and cut-up tomato, then do a slow 275º braise, usually overnight. In the morning I remove the meats, debone and trim them and cut any big pieces into big bite-size, layer everything back in with browned sausages, and bake at 350º. This year I was bringing it to a potluck with several Jewish attendees, so my principle meats were lamb shoulder and duck legs (not confited due to lack of time). I made two pots, one with saucisse de Toulouse and one without and made a stand-up sign explaining which was which. I thought it was delicious (and the leftovers just got better with every reheating), and had some very pleasing compliments. The beans I prefer are Mayocobas, a South American variety with a lovely silky texture and rich flavor. I looked at Tarbais beans and they're insanely expensive, so I was intending to just get canellini until I saw the Mayocobas.

Answer

Check out using fava beans, Cassoulet de Féves, which was the original way.

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Cassoulet?

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