La Cocotte Verte

— Serves 4

Cassoulet is a rustic, slow-cooked braise made with white beans and an assortment of meats, topped with a crunchy bread-crumb crust. There are as many versions as there are vooks! This version includes tarbais beans, duck confit and the garlic sausages that are a specialty of Toulouse. Tarbais beans have been grown for centuries in Tarbes, at the foot of the French Pyrénées. Extraordinarily thin skin, and sweet, creamy flesh make haricots tarbais the cassoulet bean.

*Items marked in green are available from The Gourmet Corner.

Suggested wine pairing: Domaine Chantepierre Cotes du Rhone 2009

Ingredients

• 2 cups coarse dry breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 tsp dry thyme leaves
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• Salt
• 1.5 cups dry Tarbais beans
• 4 confit duck legs
• 3 sausages, Toulouse-style or similar
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 4 tsp)
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock

Tarbais Beans

Put beans in a large, heavy pan and cover with 4 inches of water. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover. Allow to sit for at least one hour.

Drain beans, rinse, and cover again with 4 inches fresh water. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam. Turn down to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes or until tender. Cool the beans in their cooking liquid. The cooked beans can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days until needed.

Tarbais Beans and Levain

Cassoulet

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with olive oil.

Thoroughly mix together the bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3 Tbs olive oil or butter.

Bring 4 inches of water to boil in a pan large enough to hold the sausages. Drop the sausages into the water and boil for 10 minutes. Drain the sausages and when cool enough to handle, slice into 2-inch chunks.

In a dutch oven (une cocotte!) or heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, sear the duck legs skin side down until they are browned and crisp. Remove from pan and set aside, along with any crispy bits that stick to the pan.

Drain the fat off and reserve. Add the sausage pieces to the pan and set heat to medium. Brown the sausages for about 4 to 5 minutes until they are golden on all sides. Set aside with the duck legs.

Drain any fat from the pan, then add 2 tablespoons back to the pan. Set pan over medium-high heat and saute the chopped onion, stirring, until onion is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Return sausage to Dutch oven then add white wine. Cook 1 minute until slightly reduced, using a wooden spoon to scrape browned bits from bottom of pan. Remove dutch oven from heat. Distribute the duck legs among the sausage pieces.

Add the chicken stock and 1 tsp thyme to the beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, simmer for 5 minutes, then pour the beans over the duck legs and sausage.

Gently shake the baking dish to level the beans and sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the top. Place the Cassoulet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven heat down to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for 30 minutes until the Cassoulet is bubbling and the breadcrumbs are golden. Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Tags: casseroles, cassoulet, confit, duck, sausages

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 1:49 am and is filed under Entrees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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