Cassoulet

 This mythic bean stew from the Toulouse region of France is a fabulous dish to serve at winter parties. There are countless variations on the recipe, some of them terribly complicated, others calling for totally inauthentic ingredients such as kidney beans and prosciuto. The base technique for this version comes from Chef Patrick Asfaux of A Sousceyrac restaurant in France. I adapted it minimally to suit my personal preferences and the availability of local ingredients..

Slow-simmered, cassoulet is even better when made in advance and reheated.

Serve it with Roblar Cabernet Franc.

 For a full Southwestern French menu, a salad of dandelion greens with bacon bits, walnuts, and sliced apples would make a nice first course, and a raspberry tart with hazelnut crust would be perfect for dessert.

Ingredients

For the beans:
2 lbs. dried beans: the absolute best would be the "Tarbais" beans, but cannellini, white navy beans, or great northern will work. Tom Shepherd's locally grown cannellini are excellent.
2 peeled carrots
1 onion, spiked with 5 cloves
1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaves, parsley)
6 ounces fresh pork rind
1 ham hock

Meat:
8 lamb shoulder pieces, cut into 1 ½" cubes
8 pork shoulder pieces, cut into 1 ½" cubes
8 duck legs, cut in half
8 pieces of Toulouse sausage (French style pork sausage, or use a sweet Italian sausage.)

Other ingredients:
1/2 lb of carrots and 1/2 lb of onions cut into small dice
6 garlic cloves, crushed 
1 bouquet garni
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Roma type tomatoes, peeled and chopped
5 oz duck fat
5 oz bread crumbs tossed with 1 clove crushed garlic and ¼ cup minced parsley

Process

• Sort the beans for rocks and damaged beans, then soak the dry beans overnight in unsalted water.
• Next day, rinse the beans, and put them in a large pot. Cover them with water, add the two carrots and the onion with the cloves, the bouquet garni, ham hock and the pork rinds. Season with pepper and DO NOT SALT. Cook at a slow boil and do not forget to progressively skim the froth that forms on the surface.
• Using a large ovenproof dish, sweat the vegetables: carrots, garlic, onions, chopped tomatoes and the bouquet garni in some duck fat for 10 minutes on low heat.
• During this time use a large frying pan to brown all of the meats in some duck fat (until they are quite brown). Then retrieve and drain the pieces (in order to remove excess fat).
• Add tomato paste to the large casserole where you cooked the vegetable garnish.
  Cook this mixture for 2 minutes and then add the meats except the sausage and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place in the oven and cook at 350°F, covered, for 2 hours.
• Check if the beans are cooked. Once they are almost ready, taste to see if they need salt, but they should not. Drain the beans (put the carrots in the large casserole that is already in the oven) and set aside.
• Check if the meats are well cooked and tender. Next, use a fork and a skimmer to retrieve the meat and the bouquet garni. Be careful not to leave any small bones at the bottom of the dish. Remove excess fat from the remaining vegetables using a spoon. Mix these vegetables in a blender and then put through a sieve, pressing strongly in order to obtain a delicious vegetable sauce. Check and adjust the seasoning.
• Put the meat, the beans, the sausage and the pork rind, cut into 8 pieces, in a large terracota dish (better known as a "cassole" hence the name of this recipe "cassoulet"). If you do not have a cassole, use a large roasting pan. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 375°F and serve.
• Serve each guest yourself as only you know how you placed the meat in the dish.
  Some say that in the countryside this dish used to be gratineed in the oven several times (even 8 times). At the end the spoon could stand upright in the cassoulet, wow !!!