A SMALL CASSOULET

A Small Cassoulet image

Number Of Ingredients 17

1/3 cup Great Northern beans
2 teaspoons duck fat, if you have it, or vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 carrot, chopped
1/2 rib celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and slivered
A splash of red wine
Several sprigs parsley with stems
Pinch of dried thyme
1/3 bay leaf
3/4 cup duck, goose, or chicken stock, or more if needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 or 4 chunks pork left over from A Small Roast Pork Tenderloin (page 42)
3 or 4 pieces Braised Shoulder Lamb Chops (page 48) with aromatic vegetables
1/4 pound garlic sausage, sliced fairly thick and lightly browned
1/4 cup breadcrumbs mixed with a little chopped fresh parsley
Duck or goose fat or butter for dotting the top

Steps:

"Quick soak" the beans: Put them in a small cooking pot and cover with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, let boil heartily for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour.
Close to the end of the hour during which your beans have been soaking, heat the fat in another fairly small, heavy cooking pot, and sauté the onion, carrot, celery,and garlic until the vegetables are limp-about 3 minutes. Splash in the wine, and let it cook down briefly. Now transfer the beans and their cooking water to this pot, and add the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf. Add enough stock to bring the liquid level up to about 1 inch above the beans, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 1 hour or more, with cover askew, until the beans are just tender. Salt them now, and add several grindings of pepper. Fish out the parsley and bay leaf, and spoon a layer of beans into a small casserole, cover with the pork and lamb, another layer of beans, a layer of sausage slices, and a final layer of beans. Pour the bean cooking liquid into the casserole, and add enough stock to come halfway up. Sprinkle the parsleyed breadcrumbs on top, and dot the surface with small amounts of fat. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 1 hour.