Tarte flambée is a specialty from Alsace, thinly-rolled bread dough topped with crème fraîche, thinly sliced raw onions, and lardons, then baked in a very hot oven. It resembles a thin pizza, and like pizza, the toppings can be varied infinitely. Here we take an approach suited to a quick weeknight dinner: start with a frozen base, add some tasty toppings, then quickly blitzed in a hot oven.
Tarbais beans are the traditional beans used for Cassoulet. They only come from a specific area in France, next to the city of Tarbes. They are preferred because some of the other types of white beans tend to break down, while these stay whole, making for a creamier Cassoulet without it becoming mush. Saucisse de Toulouse is also the traditional sausage used in Cassoulet but any one of your favorite “Fabrique Délices” sausages would be delicious.
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.