A friend served cassoulet for lunch a few weeks ago. Beans were overcooked but the flavors were great, and it left me hungry to make my own. I have six confit duck legs in the freezer (from D'Artagnan) and I invited some friends over tonight for the dish.
My friend's version was essentially a bean and sausage stew accompanied by a broiled duck confit leg. I like that approach, but I'm leaning toward the classic, more a four-hour process than a 1.5 hour process. I want that crust! But though I've made this dish several times over the years, it's not something I get around to with any regularity so I have no standby recipe. There's no "When I make Cassoulet, I...." I believe I prefer anything that says it's in the style of Toulouse but I can't back that up.
So yesterday I pored thru recipes on the internet. I laughed at recipes that supposedly serve 8 but called for only 4 duck legs. For me that's the prize protein in the pot, so decision one was to not add other parts of pork. I won't augment with anything but sausage. What kind of sausage then? Yesterday at the store I found fresh (not pre-cooked) 'Heavy Garlic Chicken Sausage' from Uli's, a Seattle sausage company, at the market, a version from them I've not seen before. But Heavy Garlic is definitely Toulouse flavor, so I bought those. I had thought about adding something smoked, but now that I have the Heavy Garlic sausage I'm thinking about staying on the more delicate, herby side. I have a single unlabeled sausage in the freezer, a pre-cooked one, probably 1/2 pound in size, pale in color so not smoked, and that will go in too, probably sliced for broad distribution. I have no clue what it was but I liked it enough to save it, so there.
I also have a big chunk of pork belly which I pressure-cooked last week. I'll pan fry slices of it to garnish each serving. That will be it for anything not-poultry.
Which beans to use was the real conundrum. Last time I used the classic Tarbais beans but honestly didn't love the big size or texture. Recipes recommend those, flageolets, and both Great Northern and the smaller Navy. In the long, long ago past I recall making my first Cassoulet. I recollect getting advice from others on the earliest iteration of this forum or another Robin and I were both part of, wherein the majority definitely favored one over the other. I don't recall which it was, only that when I went shopping for that bean I strangely couldn't find it anywhere and had to settle for the other. Which would have been best? Dunno, after all these years doubt lingers.
Yesterday Great Northern and Navy were both possible. So it's time for a contest: I bought and will use both in my dish today. By this time tomorrow I'll be able to tell you which I liked best. I also bought a can of butter beans which I'll pre-season separately with white vermouth and stir in toward the end for yet another textural variation with it's own pop of flavor.
Wish me luck.
And that will be the dish. Little tartines topped with 1) duck liver/truffle pate and pickled onions, and 2) ricotta/lemon base and artichoke tapenade on top, will be the starters. A green salad will be served after the cassoulet. I'll open a bottle of a Southern French stickie for dessert.
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