Cassoulet

[ChefJune]

For anyone interested, you can get great duck, and even sometimes confit already made (and delicious) from Dartagnan.com. Ariane Daguin, the owner and founder of the firm is a native of Gascony, and the daughter of the renowned chef Andre Daguin from Auch.
Don't shoot me for pointing you to that site. You're gonna LOVE it!

[Andy M.]

Here's the ingredient list from the Jacques Pepin cassoulet recipe I sent to lefselover. It promises great flavor but demands time in its preparation.


2 Lb White Pea or Navy Beans
1 Tb Salt
1 Leek, split and washed
1 Onion, med.
2 Cloves, stuck into the onion
1 Carrot, halved
2 C Tomato, peeled, seeded + chopped
3 Garlic, crushed
1 Tb Tomato Paste
1 Bay Leaf
1 tsp Thyme, dry
4-5 Parsley Sprigs
¾ Lb Pork Rind, tied in 3-4 bundles
1 Lb Bacon, in 1 piece
4 C Chicken Broth
6 C Cold Water
1 Lb Garlic Sausage
1 Duck, 4-5 pounds
2-3 Lb Pork Shoulder, boned, rolled and tied
2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Salt
1½ C Fresh Bread Crumbs
½ C Pork or Duck Fat

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by ChefJune

For anyone interested, you can get great duck, and even sometimes confit already made (and delicious) from Dartagnan.com. Ariane Daguin, the owner and founder of the firm is a native of Gascony, and the daughter of the renowned chef Andre Daguin from Auch.
Don't shoot me for pointing you to that site. You're gonna LOVE it!

No shooting necessary. Thanks for posting the link.

[ChefJune]

hmmmm I've never made a Jacques Pepin recipe that didn't turn out fabulous.

That would be worth the work, but I don't advise making it in the hot weather. Cassoulet is real stick-to-your-ribs food, for sure!

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by ChefJune

hmmmm I've never made a Jacques Pepin recipe that didn't turn out fabulous.

That would be worth the work, but I don't advise making it in the hot weather. Cassoulet is real stick-to-your-ribs food, for sure!

This is definitely a cold winter day recipe.

[Callisto in NC]

Originally Posted by LEFSElover

Confused as to how Lisa made hers in the short time limit she had especially since she had to do the mac and cheese too. No doubt the beans were canned. No doubt she could ask for duck as it was in there too, I guess they each had their choice of ingredients to make their throwdown.

The beans were canned, I thought she complained about it and went on and on about how this dish takes HOURS to prepare so she had to cut corners. Everything she's done takes HOURS to prepare. It's one of the reasons I won't watch her show any more than I watched Amy's. I haven't heard if Amy is coming back, but I doubt it since Food Network is debuting all their new shows by the end of July and she's not in the line up. I'll take Adam or Aaron over Lisa. Lisa isn't down home cook enough for me. Aaron is a lot like Bobby Flay in his food so I like him.

Personally, I like canned beans. I'm too busy to deal with dry. Good luck on your cassoulet.

[Robo410]

Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking covers the topic well. Just making the lamb and sausage part is quite tasty by itself. The only way it could be done so quickly on Food Network was using prime cuts of meat rather than boney hunks which is the ideal for flavor. A "quick one" takes about 4-5 hours, and is better the next day as with all such braises.)

(quite frankly if Bobby felt that Lisa's was the best he'd ever had, he needs to go back to French Culinary Institute and talk to his chef/professors.)

[Callisto in NC]

Originally Posted by Robo410

Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking covers the topic well. Just making the lamb and sausage part is quite tasty by itself. The only way it could be done so quickly on Food Network was using prime cuts of meat rather than boney hunks which is the ideal for flavor. A "quick one" takes about 4-5 hours, and is better the next day as with all such braises.)

(quite frankly if Bobby felt that Lisa's was the best he'd ever had, he needs to go back to French Culinary Institute and talk to his chef/professors.)

In Paula and Bobby's defense, they both said it wasn't something they had had often and Paula had never had it so she didn't have a base to compare it to in the first place (unless she was equating it with bean soup of some kind). I'll end up watching the ep again but I'm sure he said he hadn't had that many. Then again, maybe he doesn't usually like it and the more down homeness of Lisa's quick cook was better to him. It really did look like white bean stew. And, remember, they are trying to pimp a new show. Viewers aren't voting this time and and they've already picked the winner so maybe she won and they edited that creatively so people would think she's good at what she does.

[ChefJune]

the more down homeness of Lisa's quick cook was better to him.

Imho, a quick version would definitely NOT be more "down homey" than a long, slow cook... By the way, Cassoulet is not braised. It's a stew.

[Callisto in NC]

Originally Posted by ChefJune

Imho, a quick version would definitely NOT be more "down homey" than a long, slow cook... By the way, Cassoulet is not braised. It's a stew.

Let's see, her long version has all kinds of gross meats and her quick one had the duck leg on top, easy to remove. Definitely down home not froo froo like her 8 hour version. Cassoulet sounds French which is froo froo, not down home. Just the ingredients are froo froo. What she ended up doing was more like butter bean stew.