Redneck Cassoulet

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=dragslay-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000NID7Y0&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrI have this redneck friend – wait.

Bahahahaha! Ok – I have hundreds. But one in particular is a foodie. A couple of years ago he got his hands on an older French cookbook, and he developed an obsession with cassoulet – a French peasant dish that has as many ways of making it – and as many claimants to the correct way – as good barbeque does here. If you ever get it made the right way – you’ll not only see why, you’ll become obsessed too.

If you look up exactly what it is you’ll get a variety of recipes. That’s ok. The key components are white beans (arguments abound as to type), pork (ditto) and some sort of herbaceous savory flavoring (ditto). I’ve also seen that cassoulet translates as ‘white bean stew’, but also that the stew was named after the large, sturdy, conical dish in which it shttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=dragslay-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000LR2TWO&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrimmers. You know – it doesn’t matter.

Randy – my friend – first made it by ordering all the key ingredients from a French online import company. He went with the ‘most’ traditional or standard means of making it. That means white beans, lingot or coco, garlic sausage from Lanquedoc and duck confit (duck cooked it it’s own fat, beyond luscious on it’s own). This means of preparation is rumored to have begun during the Hundred’s Year War, when starving soldiers pooled their provisions, and a star was born. Sorry – my inner history nerd reared it’s head.

Anyhoo – I have to say, the first batch he prepared, with all the French imports, was one of the finer things I’ve ever tasted in my life, and validated why I love being a foodie in the first place. I don’t have to deal with high end restaurants if what I can get at home (or in this case hand delivered by 4×4) is better. It was DIVINE. Luscious. Bombshell. Golden. Rock Star. Everything you could imagine something fabulous being – this topped it. Then he blew it. I was happily munching on what we were calling Duck Chittlins (the skin, browned in duck fat), when he said “Yeah, but $100 is too damn much to pay for a bowl of beans.”

Uh – ok. Well. It was lovely while it lasted.

BUT. I should never have underestimated the obsession of the foodie. Lord knows I’m guilty of making 8 different batches of cream puffs in a night to get it just right. (Yes, I really did.)

He kept tinkering with the recipe, carefully looking at each ingredient on it’s own, and evaluating what each one brought to the show. (Good boy! That’s MY method!) And danged if he didn’t tinker until he came up with some just as incredible as the first batch. The really cool thing? He did it all using local stuff. And get this – instead of making confit by slowing poaching duck in its own fat – HE POACHED CHICKEN IN BACON GREASE. Gotta say, that’s a certain kind of base cunning there. And THIS bowl of beans sure doesn’t cost $100. 

Try this – it’s lovely beyond lovely.

1 lb Great Northern beans, soaked overnight in water
1 quart beef stock, low sodium
2/3 quart chicken stock, low sodium
1 large yellow onion, halved
1/2 lb bacon, crisped and fat reserved
5 bay leaves
5 chicken legs
Your entire jar of bacon grease (that just proved this is an Appalachian recipe)
1 lb pork loin, cubed
1 12 inch piece of Andouille sausauge
1 Tbl salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp smoked salt
3 sprigs fresh thyme

1. Drain and rinse soaked beans, and place in a large Dutch oven or stock pot. Cast iron works better here if you have it.
2. Add beef and chicken broths, onion halves, 2 bay leaves and bacon grease.
3. Cover, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer just until beans begin to get tender, or are about 2/3 done.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F.
5. Brown the chicken legs in a cast iron or oven safe skillet. Once brown, add enough bacon grease to cover. If they won’t cover and you couldn’t get your mama or granny to give you hers, then you’ll need to turn the legs in the oven and/or baste them as they cook.
6. Once covered, pop the skillet in the oven, and allow to cook for 40 minutes. Reduce heat to 300F, and continue to cook for another hour, or until the meat wants to fall off the bone.*
7. Brown the pork loin and Andouille until beautifully golden brown. Set aside.
8. Once beans have reached the 2/3 doneness stage, add chicken confit, pork, andouille and remaining bay leaves to the pot.
9. Add salt, smoked salt, pepper and 1 cup of the bacon grease in which you confit’ed the chicken.
10. Cook in the oven at 300 for another 1 1/2 hours, uncovered, or until beans are tender and creamy.
11. We never said this was diet food. There’s a reasons peasants were rather rotund.

Serve with cracklin cornbread.
 
*Contrary to all logic – meats confit in fat (even bacon grease) are not the least bit greasy. I don’t know why. Don’t care. They are tender, moist and succulent beyond belief.

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Angel’s Roast Duckie

Roast Duck for my friend Angel! Mmmmmm….

Normally the duck you’ll find is called Long Island or Pekin. I just call my brother and he walks out his back deck and gets me a couple. Either way the method is the same, although wild duck is certainly wilder in flavor. My usual method is less expensive than most, but even ordering duck is worth it. It’s delicious.

I guess one of the main things to keep in mind when dealing with duck is that there is a thick layer of fat immediately under the skin – and this needs to be rendered away from the meat correctly in order to get the tender, flavorful meat and crispy skin that is so yummy. It’s not hard to do – just requires a little attention.

First, remove all the fat you can from the bird and cavity. Rinse it well and place it in a roasting pan on a rack. Pour about two cups of boiling hot water over it – this will help tighten the skin and render the fat. Season the bird very well with salt and black pepper – duck takes all kinds of flavors – root veggies and winter fruits are wonderful if you’re going to use a stuffing – but plain old salt and pepper are great.

Next – prick the skin all over – about every inch or so – with a fork or the tip of a paring knife. Be sure you pierce the skin and fat – but not the meat. Go slow the first poke or two and you’ll be able to tell easily where the fat layer stops and the meat layer begins. The fat is soft – the meat is firm.  This will allow the fat to more easily drain away as well. Poke him good!

Make sure the bird is clear of the bottom of the roasting pan – the last thing you want is for it to cook sitting in it’s own fat. If need be, use a bulb baster to pull from the bottom of the pan.

Roast him up at 375 F – and you’ll want to rotate the pan about every half hour. Yes you have to pay him attention – but he’ll pay you pack in flavor and crispy love. The duck will roast for about three hours for a five to six pound bird. The internal temp should read from 165-180 – depending on whether you like medium rare to more well done. My own personal preference is about 175, and then carryover cooking will provide the rest. The juices will be a very pale clear pink at 165.; Pull him out and let him rest.

I love duck – it’s darker, richer and gamier than chicken or turkey. I love deglazing the roasting pan with a little merlot for a quick rich glaze. Deglaze the cook with the merlot too for that matter!

AND – if you really want to knock someone’s socks off – make sure you KEEP the rendered fat from the bottom of the pan – as well as any excess skin. Refrigerate it, and you can make a French classic known as confit – the primary ingredient in another classic called Cassoulet. Learn how to do a few things yourself and it’ll be as good as a magic want. I’ll tell y’all how to do that next…http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=Dixiemockingbird@gmail.com&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0008IT4GA&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr
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