Christmas Cassoulet Recipes

CHRISTMAS CASSOULET

Steps:

• Evenly divide chicken stock and beans between 2 large stockpots. Bring both pots to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming foam from surface as it rises. Remove pot from heat and let beans cool in liquid.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fit 2 roasting pans with racks; set aside.
• Remove thyme leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme. Season ducks, inside and out, with salt, pepper, and thyme leaves. Place two ducks on one rack in a roasting pan, and one duck on another. Add enough water to each roasting pan to come just below the bottom of the racks. Transfer both roasting pans to oven and roast for 45 minutes.
• Fit another roasting pan with a rack. Season goose, inside and out, with salt, pepper, and sage. Using a fork, prick skin all over and place on rack in roasting pan. Add enough water to come just below the bottom of the rack. Transfer to oven; roast for 1 hour.
• Place lamb and pork bones on a large rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper; transfer to oven and roast for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt 1/4 cup duck fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb cubes, working in batches as necessary, and cook, turning, until browned on all sides; transfer to a plate and set aside. Add pork cubes, working in batches as necessary and adding 1/4 cup more duck fat, if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time (you may not need to use the full 1/4 cup). Cook, turning, until browned on all sides; transfer to a plate and set aside. Add pancetta to skillet, working in batches as necessary, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides; transfer to a plate and set aside. Alternatively, melt 1/4 cup duck fat in each of 3 large skillets and, working in batches, brown meat separately in each skillet.
• Drain fat from skillet; add 1/2 cup of duck fat to skillet and melt over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic to skillet, in batches if necessary, and cook, stirring, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1 bottle of wine; let simmer for 15 minutes. Alternatively, if using 3 skillets, divide onion, garlic, tomato, and wine evenly among the 3 skillets. Transfer to stockpots with beans and their liquid, dividing evenly.
• Remove breast meat from ducks and goose. Remove the legs of each and cut each leg into two pieces; remove bones from thighs. Cut breast and thigh meat into bite-size pieces and set aside. Remove wings and set aside along with drumsticks. Cover meat, wings, and drumsticks and refrigerate overnight. Using a cleaver, halve carcasses; set aside.
• Place 2 large layers of cheesecloth on work surface. Repeat with another 2 layers of cheesecloth to make 2 separate cheesecloth stacks. Evenly divide duck and goose carcasses, roasted bones, parsley, leeks, carrots, cloves, bay leaves, and remaining 6 sprigs thyme between cheesecloth stacks. Wrap and tie with kitchen twine to enclose. Add one to each pot with beans and add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches. Place pots over medium-high heat; simmer until beans are almost tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Beans should be covered by 2 inches of liquid at all times; if liquid begins to reduce, add water as necessary. Remove from heat and remove as much excess liquid from beans as you can; transfer liquid to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. Let bean mixture cool for 1 hour; transfer to refrigerator and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.
• The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place beans over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer. Remove cheesecloth packets and discard. Skim fat from the surface of reserved bean liquid and divide evenly between the two pots of beans.
• In a Dutch oven that holds at least 18 quarts, alternately layer the beans with remaining bottle of wine and a mixture of the reserved cubed lamb, pork, pancetta, duck, and goose, seasoning between each layer with salt and pepper. Top the mixture with the reserved duck and goose drumsticks and wings.
• Make the Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with duck fat and stir to moisten. Sprinkle evenly over to cover. Transfer Dutch oven to oven and bake until a light-brown crust has formed, 2 to 3 hours.
• About 1 hour before you are ready to serve, place sausages in a high-sided skillet; add enough water to skillet to cover sausages by three-quarters. Bring water to a simmer over medium-high heat; cook, turning, about 35 minutes. Cover skillet and continue cooking until sausage is cooked through, about 10 minutes more. Remove sausage from casings and cut on the bias into 1/2-inch slices. Top cassoulet with garlic sausage and serve.

HOW TO MAKE CASSOULET

Steps:

• Soak Great Northern beans in water in a large bowl overnight. Drain beans and place into a large soup pot. Push whole clove into the 1/2 onion and add to beans; stir in garlic, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and 10 cups water. Bring beans to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until beans have started to soften, about 1 hour. Drain beans and reserve the cooking liquid, removing and discarding onion with clove and bay leaf. Transfer beans to a large mixing bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cook bacon in a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium heat until lightly browned and still limp, about 5 minutes. Stir celery, carrots, and 1/2 diced onion into bacon; season with salt. Cook and stir vegetables in the hot bacon fat until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat; brown sausage link halves and duck confit in the hot oil until browned, about 5 minutes per side.
• Season vegetable-bacon mixture with 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, cracked black pepper, and herbes de Provence; pour in diced tomatoes. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until juice from tomatoes has nearly evaporated and any browned bits of food on the bottom of pot have dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir mixture into beans.
• Spread half the bean mixture into the heavy Dutch oven and place duck-sausage mixture over the beans; spread remaining beans over meat layer. Pour just enough of the reserved bean liquid into pot to reach barely to the top of the beans, reserving remaining liquid. Bring bean cassoulet to a simmer on stovetop and cover Dutch oven with lid.
• Bake bean cassoulet in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add 4 crushed garlic cloves, panko crumbs, and parsley to the melted butter. Season with salt and black pepper, and drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over crumbs. Stir to thoroughly combine.
• Uncover cassoulet and check liquid level; mixture should still have several inches of liquid. If beans seem dry, add more of the reserved bean liquid. Spread half the crumb mixture evenly over the beans and return to oven. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. There should be about 2 or 3 inches of liquid at the bottom of the pot; if mixture seems dry, add more reserved bean mixture. Sprinkle remaining half the bread crumb mixture over cassoulet.
• Turn oven heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and bake cassoulet, uncovered, until crumb topping is crisp, edges are bubbling, and the bubbles are slow and sticky, 20 to 25 more minutes. Serve beans on individual plates and top each serving with a piece of duck and several sausage pieces.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Bundle parsley, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, celery, and leek to form a bouquet garni, wrapping kitchen twine around the aromatics several times to secure -- which ensures easy retrieval of the ingredients after they've infused the cooking liquid with flavor.
• Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add fatback or pork belly, and cook until it is golden on all sides and has begun to render its fat, about 5 minutes. Add pork shoulder, and cook until golden on all sides, about 8 minutes total.
• Stick clove in half the onion, and add to pot along with bouquet garni, ham hock, carrot, tomatoes and juice, and beans. Add enough cold water to cover by 1 to 2 inches (about 8 cups). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until beans are tender throughout but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat. Discard carrot, onion, and bouquet garni. Transfer ham hock to a cutting board, reserving liquid, and let cool slightly. Trim meat and gelatin from the bone, dicing and returning them to the pot. Discard the bone.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Rub cut side of garlic clove over the entire inner surface of a small (5-quart) Dutch oven or other ovenproof vessel. This allows a subtle though distinct garlic flavor to infuse the resulting cassoulet.
• Using a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon, place half the bean mixture in the Dutch oven, spreading it evenly. Leave the cooking liquid in the pot.
• Arrange the duck confit and sausage on top of the beans in the Dutch oven to create a single, snug layer. Spoon the remaining beans over the meat, reserving the cooking liquid.
• Add enough cooking liquid so the beans are almost, but not quite, submerged. Reserve the remaining liquid. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Check the liquid every 30 minutes to make sure it is no more than 1/2 inch below the beans, and add liquid or water as necessary. Do not stir.
• After the cassoulet has cooked for 2 hours, toss bread and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over cassoulet, and return to oven until beans are tender and bread is golden, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Before serving, let cassoulet stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to cool and to allow the beans to absorb some of the liquid. You can refrigerate cassoulet in an airtight container for up to 3 days; rewarm in an oven heated to 300 degrees.

VEGETARIAN CASSOULET (CASSOULET DE LEGUMES)

Steps:

• Cook beans according to package directions; can be cooked in a pressure cooker or crockpot. Cook until tender but don't overcook.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Reserve 5 of the garlic cloves.
• In a large heavy saute pan, over medium-high heat, saute the pepper, carrots, potato and remaining garlic cloves, in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until lightly browned, about 5 to 8 minutes.
• In an earthenware (or corningware) casserole, layer the cooked drained beans, sauteed vegetables, diced tomatoes, herbes de Provence, thyme, red wine, and stock, sprinkling each layer with salt and pepper.
• Cover casserole with a tight fitting lid and bake for about one hour.
• Add more liquid if needed to keep the beans from burning.
• Mince the reserved garlic cloves.
• Combine minced garlic with the bread crumbs, minced parsley and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Increase oven heat to 400 degrees F.
• Remove casserole from the oven, remove lid and spread half of the crumb mixture over the top.
• Return uncovered casserole to the oven and bake about 15 minutes, or until a golden crust has formed.
• Break the crust and stir it into the cassoulet.
• Repeat by spreading the remaining half of the crumb mixture over the top of the cassoulet.
• Return uncovered dish to the oven and bake until the second and final crust has formed.
• Then serve.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Turn the oven to 170C. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the bacon until just crisp. Tip into a shallow, flameproof casserole with a lid. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and fry for 5 mins, until softened. Tip into the casserole.
• Heat the remaining oil in the pan and fry the chicken thighs until golden brown all over, then add to the casserole. Fry the sausages until brown and add to the casserole with the beans. Pour the stock into the pan, scraping any bits from the bottom, and bring to the boil. Add the tomato puree, tomatoes and herbs, stir well, then pour intion the casserole and season.
• Remove from the heat and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the surface in a thick, even layer. Bake uncovered for about 30 mins, until a golden crust is formed. Serve warm.
• Make the dish to the end of step 2, Cool, then transfer to a freezerproof container, cover and freeze for up to 1 month. To reheat from frozen: turn the oven to 160C. Transfer the cassoulet to a casserole and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Cook for 1 hour 25 mins or until hot and bubbling and a crust has formed.