2008 Cassoulet at our home
Once every Fall or Winter, we make a massive Le Creuset dutch oven full of Casssoulet. The yearly tradition started several years ago via a dare from our friend Matt. At the time, we had never actually tasted cassoulet, so a challenge it was indeed. This is one of the few places we tend to follow fairly closely to a recipe, ours being that of Anthony Bourdain in his Les Halles Cookbook.
This feast requires several days of well-worth-it effort, which includes confit’ing the duck legs (a very straightforward and useful skill to master). Getting authentic ingredients can be challenging. The beans we typically use are called Coco beans by Saboret. These ones on top crisp gorgeously and will remind you a little of the eating popcorn. The sausage is also tricky in the US — uncured garlic sausage from Toulouse is what you’re after. If you have a meat grinder, best bet is to make your own — the ingredients are just pork and garlic. Avoid using Italian pork sausage as a substitute if it has fennel in it (you can sometimes get it without fennel and that’s not a bad substitute)! If you have any extra duck fat, cover it and save it for cooking with in the refrigerator.
