Making my first cassoulet

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Chief Longwind Of The North

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According to research, this is a project. I followed classic French techniqu, but used chicken instead of duck.

Ingredients:
10 chicken drumsticks
10 chicken wings
1 lb. pork shoulder boneless ribs
3 cups homemade chicken broth
1 lb. dried Great Northern beans
2 stalks celery
2 cups sliced carrot
2tbs. salt

Ct pork into 1 inch chunks. Cooked beans after soaking in salt water until tender. While the beans were cooking, covered the wings in water, and pressure cooked fo 90 minutes to make collagen rich broth. Ct the fat from the pork, and rendered it in Dutch oven. browned drumsticks on all sides in pork fat. Removed the drumsticks, and browned the pork. Drained the broth into a bowl, through a strainer.

Drained the beans. Placed veggies, pork, and a head of garlic into a wide, SS pot. Added the beans, and veggies. Laid drumsticks on top. Deglazed the Dutch oven with some of the chicken broth. Covered everything with the deglazed, and remaining stock to cover. Placed into pre-heated 300' oven for 4 hours. Will take pictures when it's done.

This will be savory, and yummy.

I followed this recipe - https://www.seriouseats.com/traditional-french-cassoulet-recipe

Darn, i forgot the onion!

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
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You're in for a treat! Cassoulet is def. worth the effort. It's something I make in the fall/winter; to me, it's a fantastic cold-weather dish when you need some warming up.
I use cannellini beans, duck confit and duck fat, both of which are easy to find here, pork shoulder and Toulouse sausages. There are some variations in protein choice depending on the regions and personal taste. For example, Ann Willan uses lamb, but lamb's not always easily available around here.
I don't use my pressure cooker for this, I find it benefits from the long cook. Plus, it helps get the crunchy top you need for cassoulet.
Enjoy your cassoulet! I have no doubt that it will be a winner!
 
I purchased the garlic sausage for this, and it was put in he freezer. Do you think I could finf it? Of course not.

Only the chicken wings were cooked in the pressure cooker to make a collagen-rich broth/ I removed the meat from the wings for chicken salad sandwiches. The cassoulet will have cooked four hours in the oven. I had to use Great Northern beans as dried cannellini beans weren't available.

So this is almost-authentic cassoulet. The meat should be fall apart tender, nd the pot is developing a nice crust.:yum:

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Chief, you are right when you call it a project. I had clipped a recipe from a magazine a long time ago - Gourmet or some other reliable source. Meanwhile, I looked for the flageolet beans the recipe called for. Pricey little devils! After all the time it took me to make it, I wasn't all that impressed. I hope you have tastier results.
 
It was tasty, but like Peking Duck, too much work for what you get. I enjoy a good bean soup as much. Maybe with the garlic sausage, and onion, it would have been more special. On the plus side, everyone enjoyed it. It served 3 adults, 1teen, and four grandkids, with enough left over for my DIL, and teen grand daughter. As promised, her is the picture.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 

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Looks amazing Chief! Congrats and glad all the work was tasty! LOL

Maybe under 'stray thoughts' but I've been thinking that a lot of old recipes that were so much work was because they had no choice in how things were prepared.
I've not done an awful lot of older recipes but the ones I have done were just as good done a faster/more convenient way. Or perhaps my taste buds just aren't as discerning as others. And then again, maybe my taste buds prefer the newer ways. At any rate, if one has time and is willing to experiment and go the extra mile, I always like to at least try once - twice if I like it!
But I've lost a lot of my oomph and desire but love reading about others efforts!

So, again Chief, Well Done!
 
Looks amazing Chief! Congrats and glad all the work was tasty! LOL

Maybe under 'stray thoughts' but I've been thinking that a lot of old recipes that were so much work was because they had no choice in how things were prepared.
I've not done an awful lot of older recipes but the ones I have done were just as good done a faster/more convenient way. Or perhaps my taste buds just aren't as discerning as others. And then again, maybe my taste buds prefer the newer ways. At any rate, if one has time and is willing to experiment and go the extra mile, I always like to at least try once - twice if I like it!
But I've lost a lot of my oomph and desire but love reading about others efforts!

So, again Chief, Well Done!
I think you're right. This dish in particular would have been something they made in the middle of winter, with duck legs preserved from the summer and taking advantage of the low fire that would be kept going during much of the winter. They didn't have ovens that they could set to a steady temperature.

And I agree, well done, Chief! Making a cassoulet for my close neighbors is on my bucket list.
 
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About Peking Duck and cassoulet...
My grandmother was French (from Normandy) and and an excellent cook. She took care with everything she made and I loved watching and helping her cook. She was incredibly strict in the kitchen but I learned so much from her.

She didn't make cassoulet, but made many braises because of the layers of flavour and because it used lower-cost and more flavourful cuts of meat. (My grandfather was a butcher, so it was a perfect culinary match.) At this time of year, she'd use the wood stove in the downstairs kitchen. Everything always came out perfectly, but it was also perfect coming out of her electric stove n the main kitchen.

A wood stove is surprisingly adaptive. It can be made to be very hot, or low/slow, if you know how to use it.

Making a cassoulet isn't meant to be difficult and it isn't, sure there's a long ingredient list but it's meant to be a celebration of fall and harvest - that's when the pigs are slaughtered, the sausages and ducks are ready, and you want a special dish for the whole family to share. Like the Spanish Paella, it's a traditional family dish that everyone makes. Something like a cassoulet or paella depends on the right ingredients added at the right time, cooked with sensitivity, and knowing how it's supposed to turn out.

However, Peking Duck is a whole different story.From the wiki - Cooks from all over China travelled to the capital Beijing to cook Peking Duck for the Emperor. It was a prestigious occupation as only the best chefs could enter the palace kitchens.

Alhtough I can get the right kind of duck here, and all the ingredients, I'll go to one of the top restaurants here in town if I want excellent Peking Duck. It's like in Paris. People don't bother making baguettes when you can get perfect fresh baguettes at the bakery.
Sorry for the ramble, guess it's a rambley start to the day for me.
 
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