Years ago, a group of boastful friends who lived in Federal Hill decided to put their culinary talents to the test. The task set down for them was to produce the best Cassoulet ever seen in Baltimore. And both Chef Jerry Pellegrino and I were there to witness the outcome.
For starters, a cassoulet is a French peasant dish that is more or less a stew with various meats, duck and beans, plus a lot of garlic. But this isn’t a dish for beginners to try. It is complicated with lots of moving parts, and you could literally spend a month or so preparing it.
Because one of the key ingredients is duck confit, which is something you don’t whip up overnight. It’s cured duck legs cooked in duck fat and then stored in a jar filled with more duck fat, for at least a month.
But there’s more to it in the classic version. Since cassoulet is a tradition from the South of France, where garlic is omni-present, you’re going to rely on things like the garlic-rich Toulouse sausage. If you can’t find it, just ask for the most garlicy sausage your deli has and you’ll be OK. In addition, you have pork ribs, ham, even pork rind to go into it. But perhaps one of the most important ingredients is the beans. Purists will insist on using French flageolet beans, but maybe cannellini beans are easier to find, and they’re nearly identical. And you’ll want to be soaking them overnight.
Since there are millions of ways of putting this together, Jerry walked us through a good reliable technique.
First, let’s get those beans cooked. And since we’ve soaked them overnight, they’re soft. I’m going to put them in a big pot with a lot of pork; maybe a ham hock, some pork rind. To that’s I’ll add my aromatic vegetables, like carrots, onions, tomatoes and garlic. Then some herbs like fresh thyme, bay leaves and a bouquet garni. I’ll pour in a good amount of chicken stock, a cup of duck fat, some tomato paste, salt and pepper, and cover it with water.
And what about cooking time? Jerry recommends an hour and a half over medium heat. And while that is going on, you can roast your sausage and ribs, slathered with duck fat, for about 30 minutes in a 350° oven. When they’re done, cut them into bite-sized pieces and we’re just about ready to assemble the cassoulet.
It’s time to get out your biggest oven-proof bowl. Correct. In the bottom you’ll put the cooked pork rind, ham and ham hock meat. On top of that goes the cut up sausage and pork ribs, and then you scoop out your beans and layer them on top. And be sure to fish out those bay leaves and random vegetables.
Now, since there’ll be a lot of liquid left in the bean pot, ladle that over the cassoulet until it’s filled up. Then it goes into a 350° oven for a good long bake.
After about an hour, a crust is going to form on top. Take the cassoulet out, break up the crust, add a little more liquid and pop it back into the oven. You can do these three or four times.
As for your duck confit? For your final bake in the over, just arrange the duck legs on top, or you nestle them in among the beans. Either way, another half hour and you are good to go.
