re: 2022 self cooking challenge

I will start this month with the Cassoulet and see where it goes from there.

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I will start this month with the Cassoulet and see where it goes from there.

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for proper cassoulet you'll need toulouse sausages

LINK

I have a pound of Rancho Gordo Tarbais beans that didn’t arrive in time for one of the cooking challenges if you want them.

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Chili Colorado

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got a recipe? I'll add it to the "extras" list. sounds amazing!

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BigDropper

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what is that a picture of under your name? smoker?

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bleeng

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Tarbais beans

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Thanks for the offer ma'am, but I got beans that need to be used!

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This last month I learned how to make a Chili Colorado dish. Basically Mexican beef stroganoff over rice. But it's nice developed flavors over a good 3 hrs plus time. The house will smell magnificent.

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Wouldn't mind seeing that recipe, if you are so inclined.

I think I will try the Alcatra later this week. We went to Portugal a few years back and really enjoyed it. The food was very good. I wish some place around here made pasteis de natas. Not really, I weigh enough as it is.

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.

This was fun, but I will probably sit out next month.

Ok, big boy. It's your turn now. What you got?