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Cassoulet by Tre' - 2022 self cooking challenge

Posted on 1/22/22 at 10:45 pm
Posted by horsesandbulls
Destin, FL
Member since Jun 2008
5144 posts
Posted on 1/22/22 at 10:45 pm
Here's the first entry from my previous thread. You can read the intro here.

The majority of the items were bought in a kit from D'Artagnan. Recipe and everything included here.


Cassoulet feels like one of those dishes that sounds like it should be intimidating but it wasn't at all.

Soak the beans overnight



Mise en place (not sure how to rotate this)



Veg and beans in the pot



Simmer



brown the duck sausage, break down the garlic sausage and duck legs.



Veg and beans in the pot



Simmer



Discard the bouquet garni and onion (note: cut the onion across the equator and not pole to pole to make this easier) Drain beans and veg. Add duck fat to the bottom of the pot you will finish the cassoulet in. Layer half the beans, then the meats then the remaining beans. Don't do what I did and let the remaining meat on top. All of this goes in the oven at 325 along with the veal demi glace and tomato paste. I used tomato juice instead as it was all I had laying around.



Cook for 3 hours, crack the top if it starts to look dry and add more liquid (stock, water, or tomato juice). Bump up the oven to 400 and add a little more liquid for another half hour or so.



Serve immediately!




Forgive the messy pictures. I don't normally track what I'm doing in the kitchen so trying to replicate something similar to what BigDropper has done.

Using this as a scale:

1 - full meat freezer left unplugged outside in the summer

to

5 - Last meal before the electric chair worthy.


And this one to rate difficulty:

1 - My 3 year old did this blindfolded

to

5 - Performing Rocket Surgery on the back of a pick up in Pamplona going the opposite direction of the bulls.


Difficulty - 3/5 - Gumbo is more difficult, but not much.
Taste 4/5 - this is amazing. a tad salty but that was expected.


Posted by horsesandbulls
Destin, FL
Member since Jun 2008
5144 posts
Posted on 1/22/22 at 10:53 pm to
from BigDropper:

I was out of work last week so I was able to get my "cassoulet" prepared.

Here's the highlights of my Cajun Cassoulet!

Started with three smoked ham hocks and smoked turkey stock



Here's the aftermath, separated the elements: smoked hock stock, ham hock meat, skin, and bones.



I scraped the fat off of the skin so I could dry & fry like pork rinds.



Placed in the toaster oven on a very low setting for 60-72 hours.



Fried @350°F until they puffed.



I rolled the ham hock meat in plastic wrap to create a cylinder but forgot to take a pic.

I used Gigantes Plaki (giant Greek beans), pressured cooked for 20 minutes in water with mirepoix, garlic, bay leaf, and cloves. They were still 'raw', I just wanted to get a head start on them before they went into the oven





Mom dropped off some deer sausage from Best Stop from her last trip to the mother land. I twisted it off to create individual portions. They were browned and reserved for later use.



I removed some of the sausage to make space for the twists, so I fried it with mirepoix and garlic. I forgot to add the bacon so I had to fry that separate and add it in later.



I mixed that in with the beans and began layering my casserole. First the beans.



Then the deer sausage and some boudin I cooked in the toaster oven to crisp the skin.




Topped it off with another layer of beans and my reserved smoked turkey/ ham hock stock. You can see a bit of jellified stock on the top.



That went into a 350°F oven for 2 hours, cracking the crust every 30 minutes. Here is the finished product with slices of ham hock terrine and crumbled pork hock rinds on top.



On the plate!



The boudin skin shrank, releasing the filling into the beans which created a nice texture and flavor.

Posted by BigDropper
Member since Jul 2009
8390 posts
Posted on 1/23/22 at 8:27 am to
Looks good.

how did the ventrèche come out? I don't think I've ever seen it used whole before.
Posted by horsesandbulls
Destin, FL
Member since Jun 2008
5144 posts
Posted on 1/23/22 at 8:42 am to
quote:

ventrèche


It pretty much rendered completely during the bake. After I drained the beans, I pulled it out and diced it and put it in with the rest of the meat. That was only half of what was sent so I've got to think of something to do with the other half.
Posted by cgrand
HAMMOND
Member since Oct 2009
46419 posts
Posted on 1/23/22 at 12:38 pm to
both of those look fantastic
Posted by Darla Hood
Near that place by that other place
Member since Aug 2012
14108 posts
Posted on 1/23/22 at 8:26 pm to
Both look great! In the food board andouille challenge I made a version of cassoulet. Let me say that I liked the dish, but not the andouille I used in it. Will someday attempt a more authentic version.
Posted by tadman
Member since Jun 2020
5156 posts
Posted on 1/23/22 at 9:17 pm to
These all look great. I like to make cassoulet all the steps in the same dutch oven so the flavor stays in the pot. Especially the meat-browning stages.

I've also been taught to put a packet of gelatin in as that is protein which makes it crustier.
Posted by weaveballs1
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2010
3313 posts
Posted on 1/23/22 at 11:49 pm to
When I did mine I actually cubed up the ventreche and browned it in the pot before adding the beans to cook. It came out like pieces of thick-cut bacon and worked great.
Posted by BigDropper
Member since Jul 2009
8390 posts
Posted on 1/24/22 at 10:59 pm to
quote:

cubed up the ventreche and browned it in the pot before adding the beans to cook

That sounds about how I may have approached it. OR I would have cut it into lardons, browned them, and saved to use as a garnish. I would then use the rendered fat to cook down my aromatics.

I do not think one way is better than the other. Each is different and will give a different result. It's why 10 different chefs can make the same dish and each will have subtle nuanced differences.
Posted by Centinel
Idaho
Member since Sep 2016
44173 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 8:55 am to
quote:

I do not think one way is better than the other. Each is different and will give a different result. It's why 10 different chefs can make the same dish and each will have subtle nuanced differences.


Hell, go to the south of France and just bring up Cassoulet, and you'll start an outright war.
Posted by horsesandbulls
Destin, FL
Member since Jun 2008
5144 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 10:40 am to
I feel like it’s the older version of the tomatoes in gumbo debate or bean vs no bean chili.
Posted by CoachChappy
Member since May 2013
34077 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 10:49 am to
quote:

I feel like it’s the older version of the tomatoes in gumbo debate or bean vs no bean chili.

It's certainly one of the older French ones for sure.

All of the above looks great. I've made cassoulet once and don't wish to try again.
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