Cassoulet for the holidays!

The holidays are approaching and I can't wait to make our traditional cassoulet for Christmas Eve. It is a typical winter dish and one of the most famous complete meal in itself. It is typical of the Southwest France. The name comes from "cassolette" which means big pot used to cook a bean dish.

Cassoulet is a dish that used to be cooked forever! It is in Castelnaudary that one cassoulet is known to have cooked for 100 years! After several hours of cooking, a crust is supposed to form on top of the cassoulet. Every hour or so, a ladle of broth is added, pushing down the crust. Most of the connaisseurs would not eat cassoulet unless it has been reheated 4 or 5 times!!

The cassoulet of the rich would have "confit d'oie" (cooked goose parts marinated in its own fat and in salt) while the cassoulet of the poor would include sausages and chicken or lamb. So be creative! Make your own recipe by adding lamb chops, pork tenderloin cubed , smoked pork chops (if you are cooking for less than one hour), pork shoulder, lamb shanks, pork shanks (if you are cooking for more than 2 hours) chicken thighs, bacon, sausages etc...

Over the years I have cut down on the time soaking beans, by using several 15 oz cans of Great Northern white beans or Navy beans.

Cassoulet :

4 slices of bacon cut in 1/3 and fried

2 lbs chicken parts ( fat trimmed) and sauteed in 1 or 2 Tbsp margarine

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 lb good sausage ( polish or german works) sauteed or boiled and skinned if skin is tough

2 Tbsp margarine or oil

1 chopped onion

4 minced cloves of garlic

3 chopped carrots

1 chopped celery stick

3 to 4 15 oz cans of white beans

2 Tbsp tomato paste or 2 cubed fresh tomatoes

1 cup of chicken broth

1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 1 branch of thyme, 1 branch of parsley) if using dried herbs use 1 Tbsp of each

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

One hour and a half before dinner:

Fry bacon in a skillet until brown and crisp on medium high heat. Drain on paper towel, set aside and reserve bacon fat in a little bowl for later. In the same skillet put 1 Tbsp margarine or oil and add chicken pieces when hot. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and saute until brown on each side about 20 to 30 minutes. When chicken is golden brown, set aside.

One hour before dinner: Set oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Boil water in a saucepan and with a fork prick the sausages. Plunge them in boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Peel the skin off. If skin is not tough sauteed the sausage making sure each side is brown in a little oil for 10 minutes. Set aside after cooking.

In the meantime, chop garlic, onion, carrots, celery. Use the skillet you fried the chicken in, add 1 Tbsp margarine or oil and saute the vegetables until limp and tender, on medium high heat, about 5 to 10 minutes. Mix in tomato paste or tomatoes. Reduce heat to simmer. Mix in 1 cup of chicken broth, bouquet garni, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and simmer for 5 minutes.

Drain the beans and add to the skillet. Simmer for 5 minutes. During that time cut sausage in chunks.

Drizzle half of the bacon fat at the bottom of a 3 to 4 quarts Dutch oven. Put a layer of the bean mixture, then bacon and sausage, then beans, then chicken then beans. The top layer should be beans. Drizzle more bacon fat on top of the beans. Cover the Dutch oven and cook for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 30 minutes. If it gets dry add more broth. Before serving make sure you remove the bouquet garni. Sprinkle with chopped parsley when serving.

Serves 6 to 8 people.

Have fun !