Duck Cassoulet

    

  

Yesterday was a rainy Sunday in November.  The first without daylight savings time, the skies were already dark from the rain before night fell at its Winter early hour.  Such is a day for me to make a hardy dish to comfort and fortify.  Sundays also allow for a little more time to do something special.  So, I chose to make for the first time a Duck Cassoulet.  Duck, two kinds of sausage, beef broth, duck fat soaked bread crumbs, there is little more comforting.  Some decry foie gras or truffle as decadent, I say give me sausage browned in duck fat! 

For the recipe, I first looked up James Peterson's in Glorious French Food, his 742 page tome, but that was too involved for me.  Even I have my limits and cooking with pig's feet is on the other side.  Instead, I found this recipe for Easy Cassoulet in The Gourmet Cookbook.  For the sausage, I recommend using a breakfast sausage.  Sweet Italian sausage will have fennel, and Hot Italian sausage will be too spicey.  The recipe recommends using a Kielbasa if necessary.  I had half a pound left over from another recipe, which I threw in, but I wouldn't recommend overdoing it to prevent the smoked kielbasa flavor from overwhelming the other flavors.  Rich, soul warming, and relatively straight forward to make.  Paired with a Pinot Noir it was wonderful and I recommend it for you.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb great northern beans

6 cups cold water
2 cups beef stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 large chooped onion
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1 bouquet garni
1 14 oz. can diced tomates
2 duck legs
1 lb cooked pork sausage
2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped parsely
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
Soak beans overnight, or put beans in a pot and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat and let beans soak, covered, for 1 hour, drain.
Preheat oven to 350. Transfer beans to a 6 or 8 quart pot, add cold water, stock, tomato paste, onions, and 2 tbsp garlic, and bring to a boil. Add bouquet garni, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove the skin and fat from duck legs. Cut skin and fat into 1/2 inch pieces. Separate duck meat from bones. Transfer meat to a bowl and add bones to simmering beans.
Combine duck skin and fat with 1/4 cup cold water in a 10-inch heavy skillet and cook, stirring, over moderate heat until water has evaporated and fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook stirring frequently, until skin is crisp, 3 to 6 minutes more. Transfer skin cracklings to paper towels to drain, leaving fat in skillet. Pour off excess if necessary, leaving 1/4 cup. If under 1/4 cup, add olive oil.
Brown sausage in batches in fat in skillet over moderate heat. Transfer sausage to bowl with duck meat.
Add remaining garlic to fat in skillet over moderate heat, stirring for 30 seconds. Sitr in bread crumbs and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped parsely, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and cracklings. Set aside.
After the stock has simmered, remove bouquet garni and duck bones and discard. Stir in sausage, duck meat, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Ladle cassoulet into casserole dish, distributing meat and beans evenly. Meat and beans should be level with liquid. Spread bread crumb topping evenly over cassoulet.
Bake, uncovered, until cassoulet is bubbling and crust is golden, about 1 hour.