Very nice Mel. Liked how the beans maintained their shape.
Best beans I’ve ever used for cassoulet
Made my D’artagnan kit this past weekend. I found it to be good, not exceptional. The beans and duck confit were great. This was a LOT of food and I was able to only use half since my 5.5 quart Staub dutch oven could only fit half. When I make the second half, I would use more than one carrot and fry to crisp the ventriche rather than use as in the directions.
I just cannot still get over the amount of fat in this dish! I was afraid to dig too deep into bottom where a lot of it settled as liquid in the bottom layer of beans - wow! Good for all of the beans to offset.
Joe, what were your negative opinions on the dish? In the future, I would omit the cloves or at least reduce them significantly (flavor was way to predominant). I do like your idea about crisping the ventreche.
Bouchon Bistro cassoulet: A Cassoulet Worth Fighting Over - WSJ
Jorge,I wouldn’t say it was bad by any means. I guess I would just say it didn’t wow me or live up to the expectations I had. Maybe my view will change when I have the leftovers! I did prepare it a day in advance after recommendations that it is better the next day or two. I didn’t find the cloves overbearing - probably since they were removed with the onions. Next time I would maybe even leave an onion in along with another carrot, and crisp the ventreche. Almost all of the photos I’ve seen seem to have more carrot than what mine had - only one per the recipe supplied.
Agreed on the carrots. I removed the cloves with the onion as well, but the flavor (and aroma more so) remained.
Were they good farting beans?
Paul,
I think that Cannelini beans are better for gas than the Tarbais.
Making a cassoulet for a boy’s poker weekend. I am using pork spine for the first time that is braised for a day in white wine. Adding this with the confit. Getting sausages from a local maker.
Hopefully it all comes together. Ragout is simmering now. The smell is fabulous!
Wait, “better for gas” meaning higher VOLUME? Or less production???
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Higher volume of course.
Bump.
'Tis the season…
I had a pretty forgettable cassoulet last evening and to be fair I realized that my idea of cassoulet is Bistro Jeanty’s version. So if anyone can pigeonhole that for me in terms of what style or philosophy it adheres to, or direct me to a recipe, I’d be willing to whip some up. Gotta get on it. Suppose to cool down into the 60’s for a few days around here.
Thought this was incredibly interesting and am going to play around with it next weekend.
Looking forward to your report. I’ve had this recipe bookmarked since last fall.
Before I moved back east and was based in Northern California in the early 2000s, I used to frequent Bistro Jeanty at least once-an-every-other-month for their cassoulet and coq-au-vin. As I try to recall, they may have described it Toulouse-style, but my slight concern for authenticity (didn’t matter as I still gorged on it) was when they told me they used smoked bacon (maple or apple) rather than French lard.
Whereas in this case I don’t think I care about authenticity, and it seems to be an ethereal authenticity anyway, like gumbo. I suspect I’d enjoy it with smoked or unsmoked lardons.
New 12 hour deal from D’Artagnan
20% off using code CASSOULET20
Expires at midnight tonight. Have at it.
Can I have it shipped in December? Wow. Just looked- the regular price on this was $100 literally a year ago!