Cassoulet

So a couple weeks ago I saw an episode of “No Reservations,” where they made a cassoulet and then there was a recipe on Serious eats as well so I just had to give it a shot.  This is a very hearty, savory, rich dish.  I served mine with some salad with vinaigrette on the side so you can have something bright and acidic to break up the richness of the cassoulet.  This makes a lot, probably about 6 servings.  If I were to make it again, which I will, I’d cook it in the oven without the lid, there was a lot of liquid left when I added my breadcrumbs and they were a little soggy.  There are all kinds of variations on the recipe, a lot call for duck confit to be added as well, but I was fresh out.

Ingredients

¼ lb of Thick cut bacon

1.5 lbs of Pork shoulder (cubed) I actually used a roast, but shoulder would have been better.

4 Sage Bangers (wasn’t the biggest fan of these)

1 large onion

2 stalks celery

3 carrots

4 cloves garlic

2 Tomatoes

1 cup white wine

Chicken Stock

Water

1 lb of Great Northern beans (soaked overnight)

Bouquet Garni

2 cups fresh bread crumbs

Oil

Butter

Salt and pepper

Procedure

1.       Dice the bacon and render the fat in a large dutch oven.  Remove

2.       Brown the sausages, then the cubed pork shoulder.  Remove

3.       Add The Onion, carrot, and celery.  Cook about 5 minutes then add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

4.       Deglaze with the white wine, and scrape up the goodies.

5.       Add the meat and beans to the pan, cover with chicken stock and or water.   Toss in the bouqet garni.  You could also add the diced tomato here, but added it after the beans cooked for an hour to make sure the softened.  Bring dutch oven to a simmer.

6.       Add the covered dutch oven to a 350-375 degree oven and cook about 2 hours or until the meat is tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed. 

7.       Top the mixture with the bread crumbs and butter, raise the oven to 500 and bake until golden brown. 

8.       Serve with crusty bread and salad.