Le Perchoir blog

Susie’s Cassoulet – a winter treat

Since we moved to France we have hosted a Cassoulet party on New Years Day and I have adapted several recipes over the years to come up with a hearty version that seems to have become a favourite with our friends and family. It’s a perfect antidote to the current cold wintry weather and can be adapted to suit your budget, with the main ingredients being beans, sausages, pork & duck. The quantities I use for about 8 people are listed below. Ideally you will have a large pot that can be used on top of the cooker to begin with and then put in the oven to finish off.

Ingredients:

• Bouquet garnie (celery stalks, parsley, thyme sprigs & bay leaves)
• 2 large chopped onions
• 6 large cloves of garlic (peeled & chopped)
• 500g smoked bacon cut into large cubes (hock joints are ideal – just cut the meat off the bone but leave the bones in for a while to impart flavour)
• 500g belly pork cut into large cubes with skin on
• 8 pieces of confit of duck* cut into two joints with some of the fat that the confit has been preserved in. (we prepare our own confit but the tinned version works perfectly well)
• 8 Toulouse sausages (I often make two small ones out of each sausage or buy the large ones that you can make into any size that suits your appetite)
• 4 chopped/peeled fresh tomatoes or 1 large tin of tomatoes
• 2 tins of haricots blancs (I use prepared Haricots from Castelnaudry which are cooked in goose fat if they are available) or 1 kg of dried Haricots soaked overnight and cooked as per the instructions on the pack.
• 1½ litres of chicken or vegetable stock
• Ground pepper to taste

* if you can’t get hold of duck you could use cooked chicken thighs or legs as an alternative – it would be slightly different but would work.

Method:

Take a large cooking pot and sauté the chopped onion in a little of the duck fat from the confit. When soft and transparent add the garlic, chopped tomatoes, beans and the stock. I tie my bunch of herbs to the side of the pot so that I can retrieve it later but make sure it is fully submerged to infuse the liquid.

Put the cubed smoked bacon (including bones if there are any) and pork into the pot and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes, giving it a gentle stir now and then to make sure the beans don’t stick. Remove the bouquet garnie and ham bones if used.

While the sauce is simmering you can brown your sausages in a separate pan using a little of the duck or goose fat. Once coloured put the sausages into the bean & pork mixture with the duck pieces and cover ready to go into the oven.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and place the cassoulet in it for an hour or so until bubbling.

Serve with hot crusty bread or baked potatoes and a winter salad.

For a slightly different twist, If you happen to have some day old French bread, you can slice it up and lay the slices on top of the cassoulet for the last half hour or so of the cooking time – leave the lid off and this will soak up any fat from the duck etc and give a golden brown crust.

Incidentally this is a great dish to prepare in advance and store in the freezer if you are catering for a group – just cook it as above and allow to cool before freezing. Then make sure you get it out in good time to defrost and heat through until piping hot.