Just woke up from a killer food coma, thanks to dinner at L’Albatros with the fam.  The recent addition to the Cleveland restaurant scene has taken up residence in the old That Place on Bellflower.  Great ambience, friendly and intelligent staff and food that blows the mind.  I’m just coming off finals week and therefore have averaged maybe 8 hours of sleep in the past week, so I’ve been eating cereal and crack.  That said, today was a total reversal of that routine: prato misto and a Young’s Double Chocolate Stout at Sergio’s and at L’Albatros; escargot, cassoulet and a canalé with cherry compote and a Reissdorf Kölsch.

L’Albatros has a decent beer list with some Great Lakes, Orval, Duvel, Old Speckled Hen, Gavroche but with LINDEMAN’S!  I have such a pet-peeve when places try to offer lambics but then offer the MOST crap one.  Ok that aside, the food is to die for and you’ll be fighting off the “itis” before you know it, but in such a good way.

It finally snowed this weekend. Like crazy. I first saw it Saturday, when I was getting out of the train station in Williamsburg with my friend Laura. There were flakes everywhere and I was so happy! Then it continued snowing. A lot. When I went to bed Saturday night, the sky was still bright with flakes. I loved it. Prospect Park was covered in snow Sunday morning. Also this weekend, I was sick. I’m still sick actually and it needs to go away because it’s about to be family time back in Detroit.

But anyway, I was quite the champ on Sunday morning. I braved my sickness and the cold and snow to get to the last New Amsterdam Market of the year. And I was not disappointed.

The first thing we saw when we got there was the guy in the cupcake hat from the craft fair last weekend! We saw him and I whispered to Laura, “He’s on my blog.” Haha. Oh, and yes, Laura and I hung out Saturday AND Sunday.

The next thing I saw that I felt was truly amazing were these giant gingerbread cookies from Breezy Hill Orchard. They were HUGE.

So cute.

Next up was some Moroccan bread, which looked pretty good, especially since it was served warm and we were quite cold.

It was perfect cause while I didn’t want to try any of the cheeses or spreads with me being sick, a little bread sounded just right. Laura and I each got one to try.

Laura’s all tough with her “Hell Yeah” gloves and here I am all “La la la”:

I think the contrast in our expressions in hilarious. Like my pink hat? Haha.

Next up, I got some duck, lamb and sausage cassoulet from Jimmy’s No. 43 which I actually cannot believe I haven’t blogged about yet, because I went there a few weeks ago and I love Jimmy’s.

That was preeeeety tasty.

Then we saw hot pockets from Quality Meats which looked pretty good and came with some strawberry thing on the side (yes, strawberry “thing,” my knowledge and handle on the English language is stellar).

From there, Laura got the lobster bisque from Luke’s Lobster:

It had HUGE chunks of lobster in it, to which Laura would look at and say, “I am so glad I still eat seafood” (she’s a vegetarian).

I also bought a pint of eggnog ice cream from the Bent Spoon, the same place I had that lovely scoop from the last New Amsterdam Market. I don’t even know if I like eggnog itself, but the ice cream was quite delicious so I bought some to take home. Can’t wait until I’m not sick and I can eat it.

I’d say the New Amsterdam Market was a success for Laura and I. We just walked around talking about how awesome it is and how we can’t wait for our friend Missy to move to New York in January and start joining us in all our activities.

I think the snow scared a lot of people away, some of the booths were even empty, but for those who made it to the New Amsterdam Market this weekend, I’m pretty sure it was worth it.

Bill loves cassoulet, so I’m always looking for ways to make it that are easy and not too meaty. I looked it up in Julia Child’s cookbook. The true French version takes several days to make and involves a pork roast, bacon, lamb roast and sausage. Many versions include duck.

I wanted something with much lower fat content and where there is more emphasis on the beans than the meat, so I adapted an old recipe from Sunset Magazine (December 2003!)

I must say, though, I’ve been reading Julia Child’s book about living in France and I love the story. My bookgroup met last weekend to discuss the book and we feasted on several of her recipes. It was delicious, but not something I would want to repeat often. I find it interesting that she and her husband often suffered stomach upset! But what an amazing person!

Back to cassoulet. I made this right after Thanksgiving, using the turkey legs that my Dad was generous enough to send home with me. It was a great way to use leftover turkey, and it was really good, but usually I would use chicken.

Quick Chicken Cassoulet
1 cup fresh or dried bread crumbs
2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup minced shallots (or onions)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, peeled and diced (1/4 in)
3 cans (15 oz each) small white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked chicken, cut in bite size chunks
2-3 chicken sausages (~ 8 oz), sliced if cooked, crumbled if not
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 cup white wine
½ cup chicken broth (more if needed)
1 teaspoon each: thyme, savory
½ teaspoon fennel
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl, mix bread crumbs and 2 tablespoons of olive oil until well combined.

Pour remaining ½ tablespoon olive oil into 3 qt ovenproof pan over medium heat. Sauté shallots or onion, garlic and carrot until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the beans, chicken, sausage, tomatoes, wine, broth and seasonings.

Cover and bake in a 350˚F oven until beans are hot, about 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle the top evenly with the bread crumb mixture. Bake until the top is browned and edges are bubbling, about 20 minutes longer.

Options: I used uncooked chicken sausage (made fresh at our local store) – so I squeezed it out of its casing and added it when the veggies were part way cooked. I could have cooked the sausage first and added them in slices like the recipe called for. Either way works.

I like this a little moister than the traditional recipe, which I believe is pretty dry. I added extra broth to make it a little soupy at first, and then baked a little longer and without a cover to let some of the moisture cook out.

It’s a great use of leftover chicken (or turkey) and a good way to get more beans in your diet. I’m not crazy about the topping since bread crumbs are generally white bread. You could make your own with whole wheat bread. Next time I think I’ll try substituting quinoa flakes and see how that works.

Enjoy!

Find more nutrition information and my monthly newsletter on my website:  http://healthyhabitscoach.com .    Eat Sustainably!

I’ve been a fan of Chef Donald Link for some time. He’s from New Orleans and started working in restaurants at age 15 washing dishes. He worked his way up to cooking and then in 1993 moved to San Francisco to study at the California Culinary Academy and work in a number of Bay Area restaurants. After he finished school he moved back to New Orleans and worked as Sous Chef at Bayona under Chef Susan Spicer. After two years he returned to San Francisco to work for a number of restaurants including the Elite Cafe, Bizou and Jardinere. He credits his time in San Francisco with refining his cooking style and giving him an appreciation for the beautiful fresh ingredients the Northern California food scene is known for.

But being a native son of New Orleans, he had to return home. In 2000, he opened Herbsaint (a brand name for Absinthe which was made in New Orleans as early as 1934) in the Warehouse District. He evacuated during Hurricane Katrina and was one of the first to reopen after the storm. It was hailed by many as an important very early step in rebuilding the city.

In Spring 2006, still shortly after the storm, Link opened his new restaurant Cochon (meaning pig in French) also in the Warehouse District. Cochon focuses on charcuterie and does incredible things with every part of the pig. Try the Chochon platter if you ever get the chance. I’ve been there numerous times and it never disappoints.

Chef Link, Herbsaint and Cochon have won numerous culinary awards.

So back to dinner at Herbsaint …

As I was getting ready to leave my room to head out for dinner, I looked out the window of my room on the 42nd floor of the Sheraton New Orleans to see an incredible red sunset over the turn in the Mississippi River (the bend in the river is why New Orleans is known as the Crescent City).

When we got to Herbsaint, they sat us right in front of the kitchen.

My first course was salad of bitter greens and winter citrus with blue cheese and candied pecans.

I looked over at the table next to us and saw some kind of interesting contraption I’d never seen in action before. It’s an Absinthe Fountain. The Absinthe is poured into the glass a cube of sugar is placed on a slotted spoon over the glass and a carafe of iced water is placed in the middle of the table. The spigot drips icy water over the sugar cube and it all mixes with the absinthe in the glass to create the characteristic opalescence. It was so interesting to see it being used.

There were a couple of items calling my name, but the one that spoke the loudest on this cold wintery night was the Kurabuta Pork Belly Cassoulet. A good cassoulet is hard to come by, but I figured that any Chef with a restaurant dedicated to the pig would be pretty expert at creating a remarkable cassoulet and he did not disappoint. The pork was so tender and the sausage so lush and garlicky. There were hunks of bacon and beautifully cooked white beans. As I got further into the dish it just got more flavorful and more rich.

For dessert, Karen had the Coconut Cream Pie with a Macadamia Nut Crust which was not like any coconut cream pie I’ve ever seen. Yum! He shared this recipe on his October 2003 Rising Star profile.

I chose the Banana Brown Sugar Tart with Fleur de Sel Caramel. It was also opulent and again, very very rich. Probably too rich a choice to have made after eating the cassoulet. I was expecting something more banana-y but this was more like a brown sugar tart with a garnish of banana. Still delicious, just too rich given my previous entree selection.

I will definitely try Herbsaint again. Next time I’m going to try to balance my menu a little better or do some sharing.

Snow! It snowed! I can’t believe it – winter is really here. Allegedly this is what I wanted when I moved back North after living in blissful sunshine in New Orleans for years (snow sighting: only once). But now, I’m not so sure as the snow is already turning to mushy slush. Blech! This is a perfect recipe for a snowy dreary day. It fills the house with good smells, is hearty and warming and doesn’t take forever to make.

I had 4 pounds of ground sausage pork to use up (Had major plans for a stuffing recipe that went nowhere), so I made meatballs instead of using sausage links. Either works, but the links are definitely preferable and less work. This recipe refers to the cassoulet in ironic quotes, which frankly seems a bit snooty even for Gourmet/epicurious. My resident Frenchman approved it, so I’m removing the quotes from my version. Then again, I also added leeks which seem to really boost the French-ness of any dish.

Adapted from Gourmet, Jan. 1997

Serves 6
Ingredients
2 lbs sweet Italian sausage links (or spicy. or a combination), skins pricked all over with a fork
2 teaspoons olive oil or bacon fat
2 medium onions, diced
1 leek, white and light green parts, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 1/2 teaspoon mixed chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and/or sage or 3/4 teaspoon mixed dried herbs, crumbled
2 bay leafs
2 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes including juice
2 19-ounce can white beans such as navy, or Great Northern, drained and rinsed. If you wish to be truly French and can find them, use flageolets.

In a dutch oven cook sausages in oil (or bacon fat if you have some stored up) over moderate heat, turning them, until browned, but only cooked partially through. They should still be a little pink. Reserve to plate.

Don’t discard that fat! Toss in the onions and leeks and cook until softened. Add garlic, cook for another minute and then stir in herbs and bay leaf. Stir to incorporate and cook together for a minute. Then add in tomatoes with juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Boil mixture, stir and lower heat to low.

Cut sausage into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Add sausage and beans to tomato mixture and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.

Cassoulet.  Anthony Bourdain has been known to refer to it as “the single heaviest dish in the French repertoire.”  I can’t say I disagree with him.  (Although tartiflette certainly gives it a run for its money.)  Like so many other classic dishes, there are many who claim to having invented cassoulet.  The three towns most adamant about their version being the “true” cassoulet are Castelnaudry, Carcassonne, and Toulouse.  Depending on who you ask, the meats used in the dish are pork (skin, belly, and/or sausage), duck or goose confit, and mutton.

Everyone agrees that the dish contains white beans, and that it is named for a special cooking vessel, the cassole, which is shaped in such a way as to increase the amount of delicious crust that forms on top.  After consulting a handful of recipes, notably those from Paula Wolfert and Bourdain and Ruhlman, I drew up an outline of how I would be going about the cassoulet.

I inadvertently sent Nick on a wild goose chase for Toulouse sausages, which were nowhere to be found on Sunday morning.  Finally he just asked a butcher for a sausage he could put in cassoulet, and came home with three beautiful, handmade links and a few thick slices of pork belly.

While the beans simmered in a mixture of veal stock and water with an oignon piqué and some thyme, I trimmed the pork belly and threw the skin and bony bits in with the beans.  The rest I chopped into lardons which I started cooking over low heat in a good layer of duck fat.  When they were nice and crisp, I moved them to a paper towel-lined bowl to drain and began browning the sausages.  After that, the duck confit went in to crisp the skin (for snacking purposes) and to warm through (to make the shredding step easier).  Then, I drained off most of the fat, reserving it for later, and added some diced onions and carrots to the pot to pick up the fond that had formed.  The vegetables softened and the bottom of the pot now clean, several cloves of garlic jumped in to join the party.  Meanwhile, I drained the tender-but-not-yet-fully-cooked beans, reserving that liquid as well.  The vegetables and the crisped lardons went in with the beans, and I was finally ready to start assembling.

1. Beans, Sausage, 2. Beans, Duck Confit, 3. More Beans

First a layer of fat, then beans, then hunks of sausage, followed by more beans, the shredded duck confit, and the rest of the beans to top it off.  Between each layer I sprinkled salt and drizzled a bit more fat.  At the end, I ladled the bean cooking liquid into the very full Dutch oven until I could see the level was just below the top of the beans.  And into the oven my cassoulet went.

An hour later, a lovely brown crust had formed on top of the beans.

Some may argue that the crusty bits are what cassoulet is all about.  I would say that they’re kind of missing the point, as good as that crust may be.  Anyway, I stirred this first crust into the beans and sprinkled breadcrumbs over the top to start forming a new crust.  Twenty more minutes, and I did it again.  Half an hour after that, I pulled the steaming, bubbling, browned cassoulet from the oven, and after stirring in that layer of crust, decided it was ready to eat.

I managed to let it cool a bit while Nick prepared a quick green salad to accompany our dinner and I selected an appropriate bottle of wine (Faugères, a new favorite from the Languedoc).

If I do say so myself, and I do, this is the best cassoulet I’ve ever eaten.  I’m sure the amount of effort that went into it plays a large role in that, but still.  The beans were tender and creamy but not at all mushy.  The sausage provided peppery, meaty contrast to the melt-in-your-mouth shreds of garlicky duck confit.  I polished off three big spoonfuls of the stuff (what you see here, plus 50% again) without any problems at all.  I actually wanted more, but I knew I should try to restrain myself.  I announced that I could go on eating it all night, happily.  And this evening, when offered the choice of cassoulet for the second night in a row or something else, Nick responded that he’d been thinking about the cassoulet all day, and wouldn’t mind having it again at all.  It pleases me to no end to declare that this labor-intensive dish is completely and totally worth it.

Originally published on Croque-Camille.

För några år sedan bytte vi boende med en familj i Albi. Det tror jag minsann jag har nämnt. Köpte en burk cassoulet osm bara stått där i skåpet och väntat. Jag har nästan varit lite rädd för den för tänk att även om det står bäst före 13 juni 2009 på den, så baa kan det ju inte vara så att den går att äta så långt fram i tiden. Inte ens nu? Nåja, bakis efter 25-årskalas för att fira nästan 40-åring och glöggeftermiddag bestämde vi: äta cassoulet, nu eller aldrig.

Recept:
Öppna burk. Smula bröd. Burkinnehåll i gryta. Smulat bröd över. 200 grader. 1 timme. Ät med vin från södra Frankrike. Känn mätt och belåten. Blogga.

Cassoulet på burk

Bäst före 13 juni 2011

några dagar gammal levain

brödskiva

onödigt, men om du vill kan du ta bort kanterna

utan kant

smula fint

öppnad burk, mkt bönor

vräk ner i grytan

strö smulor

efter en timme i ugnen på 200 grader

vin från södra Frankrike

brunt och gott

Nu tror jag visst det får bli lite Super Mario World.

This weekend a good friend came from Lyon to visit me here in Carcassonne; she arrived with the preconception that it was a quiet and beautiful town and left feeling that whilst it was beautiful it was drama-central!

The Friday night we went for a quiet meal and had an evening of catch-up on each other’s lives, it was nice. The Saturday we let ourselves wake up naturally, got ready, went to the boulangerie, bought a beautiful cake each and then sat on a bench to watch the hustle and bustle of the Saturday morning market. (When I say “watch the hustle and bustle” I really mean I spotted a man that I would quite like to marry and set about creating plans on how I could make that scenario come about). About half way into our cakes a man walks buy, apparently hears our English and back-tracks a few steps. “You speak English non?” “Oui, nous sommes anglaise”. Error. He plops himself down on the bench next to us and drawls on at us in incomprehensible English. We tell him we don’t know what he’s saying so he drawls on at us in almost incomprehensible French instead asking us if we’d like to spend the last day of our holiday with him (okay, we lied, he doesn’t need to know I fully live here!) We turned him down and he replied “ah dommage” and wandered off. I’m pretty sure he was stoned.

After that minor incident we headed up to La Cité and did some shopping. We found a lovely little restaurant and decided to have lunch. I chose this as my time to have my first taste of traditional Carcassonian cassoulet. It was so amazing that right now I am craving it – who craves cassoulet at 7pm? Me, that’s who!

We finished our afternoon off with a nap which saw us into the early evening, we then got up, got ready and headed to a friend’s for pre-drinks before heading to our local bar. As we got to the bar we saw that one of the windows and the window in the door were smashed as we walked in we were told by the barman to be careful of the glass and that he wasn’t serving drinks for the moment because they were just waiting for the police. As the police and the firefighters arrived, took statements and carried a man away on a stretcher,  we were filled in on the story. I’m not 100% sure what the reasoning was behind the attack on the bar but metal bars were used to smash through the two windows by men who were angry about something thus injuring one man and shaking up many others. When the police left the bar was back in service and we ordered a drink, sat ourselves down around our normal table near the window and assured my visiting friend that this was not a regular occurrence  in Carcassonne. No sooner had we maid that claim there was sudden smashing noises, I could feel liquid splashed on me and without even realising it we were all darting to the back of the bar. The violent guys had returned and were lobbing glass bottles of some sort of liquid at the windows and the front of the bar. We were so lucky that one didn’t come straight through the window near us and injure us – from where I was sat I could’ve been badly hurt, as could most of the other people sat around the same table. Shaken up wasn’t the word! The landlady had tears in her eyes, the police were called again and the bar was closed and we were sent away… reassuring my friend, encore une fois, that Carcassonne is in fact quite a tranquil town. I’m not sure she believed it though.

Definitely my most dramatic weekend in Carcassonne!

The Crone, being without a car, is walking to and from work. Tonight is a horrible night. Cold, dark, and pouring with rain. The Crone, who is wearing a purple wool/silk twin set with little margin for shrinkage, decided that she couldn’t afford to get soaked and so broke her 20 minute journey at Vidalia, which has an excellent bar man, bar menu and, well, bar.

Settling herself on her barstool the Crone ordered a glass of Spanish white wine (delicious) and was offered the dinner menu by the barman ” Oh no” she replied “I’m really only here to dry out a little” With which he looked askance at the wine glass, but wisely said no more.

The Crone is half thinking of going round to Tom and Mike’s for Wednesday night dinner–they’re having cassoulet. But given her propensity for an unfortunate turn of phrase she’s decided to stay home.

 ”Want another plate?”

“Oh, you know me, I can never pass up sausage…”

Les photos sont “Cliquez ICI“

Pour tous le rappel important des CUISSONS !!!

Bien en conclusion,
Nous avons pu voir 3 recettes, une Kadaif de foie gras sur sauce aux cèpes
un cassoulet (peu gras…) mais très bon
un Pastis Gascon.
le tout était à ce damné, très bon, et très fin, pas de grosse difficultés, je retiens que pour éplucher l’ail, il faut l’écraser un peu avec la paume de la main, et que pour faire du caramel, on ne met pas d’eau,QUE du sucre…

Merci en tous cas à Renaud pour ces cours de cuisine, (le chef se nommait Renaud….)

Sunday, my parents and I embarked on our epic Cassoulet Crawl.  Momma Park was conducting Food Forensics so she could develop her own signature June & Ho Cassoulet.

(the parents Park)

I did a little research to find out who definitely had Cassoulet on the menu.  Here were the locations that looked appealing:

• Lucien 14 1st Ave (at 2nd St) ; NYC 10009; (212)260-6481

• La Sirene 558 1/2 Broome St; NYC 10013; (212) 925-3061

• Le Jardin Bistro 25 Cleveland Pl (btwn Kenmare St & Lafayette St); New York, NY 10012; (212) 343-9599

• La Gascogne 158 8th Ave (btwn 17th St & 18th St); NYC 10011; (212) 675-6564

• Brasserie Les Halles 411 Park Ave S; (btwn 28th St & 29th St)
  NYC 10016; (212) 679-4111

Out of the above list, we decided to try La Sirene, La Gascogne and Lucien (to keep it all downtown).

First stop: La Gascogne in Chelsea.  My parents thought the décor was charming and very “French country”!  Gascogne has a fantastic brunch prix-fix menu, where you get 1 appetizer and 1 entrée for $20.  For a gander at the menu, please click here.

I tried to dissuade them from ordering a lot of food, but in preparation for our Crawl, they hadn’t eaten anything in the morning, so they were famished.  Also, being abundantly blessed with good manners – they felt it wouldn’t be polite for us to go to a restaurant and just order one dish.

• Aumônières D’escargots sautéed snails in phyllo dough, garlic beurre blanc: My dad ordered this as a start.  He said the dish was delicious…the snails were well cooked (not over-cooked) and the phyllo was crispy.  Beurre blanc was not overbearing – simple, clean & delicate.

• Cassoulet traditional bean casserole, duck confit and garlic sausage: Naturally, my mom ordered the Cassoulet.  She liked it immediately.  It came with a beautiful dusting of golden brown breadcrumbs.  The flavors came from the meats, but they didn’t overpower the flavors of the bean.  It had a very clean, classic flavor.

• Momma Park approved!  (personally, it tasted a little too game-y for my taste.  All that duck & lamb was too much)

• Saumon Farci Aux Epinards salmon stuffed with spinach mousse , served with dill beurre blanc: My dad had this as his entrée.  He said it was tasty, but then again, he’s been on this huge salmon kick.  He did say that his favorite cut of salmon has to be a salmon steak; when you cook it, the flavors from the bone really infuses the meat and makes it more appetizing.  (but then again, whenever you cook something with the bones, that’s the case).

Overall, my parents really liked La Gascogne.  They had a very classic approach to French fare, which fit RIGHT in with my mom’s culinary sensibilities.

After that mini feast, my parents were getting full.  But the Crawl must continue!

(aren’t they the cutest?!)

To be continued…

Autumn. The season where the leaves change color, fall clothes are taken out of semi-retirement and the air chills just enough to make thoughts crisper, sharper, more in focus.

And for my line of work, it is also the season for academic conferences. So, this week I will be heading off to the American Association of School Librarians Annual Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is an interesting mix of secondary school librarians, passionate techies, people intentionally and pragmatically looking to redefine the influence of their profession. More power to them.

I enjoy dealing with the secondary school crowd after spending most of my time in higher education. They are very approachable, very enthused (very) and just plain old pleasant people. Always quick with a smile and a laugh. So, it should be good and we will have a little swag to hand out. I am looking forward to having some good conversations about the secondary school community and how we can work with them more. Should be fun.

That being said, blogging will be light for the week. I will be relying on Twitter to post from the exhibition floor with #aasl09.

Me in my living room admiring my cassoulet

On an unrelated note, I made cassoulet the other night. It is a kind of stew with lamb, duck, pork, sausage, beans and vegetables slow cooked over a course of three or four hours. It was absolutely brilliant. I think when I cook that is my way of expelling some of that creative energy that I used to write through. Now, I cook. The evolution of Michael Gallagher continues. I would still like to write some poetry, though as I do miss it.

Cassoulet in a Le Creuset on a Friday

When you grow up in a household where your mom’s a chef and your parents own June & Ho in Rye, food is the center of the universe.  Childhood vacations from school were basically one gigantic Food Crawl: if we vacationed in France, we would eat our way from Nice to Paris, with Zagats and the Relais Chateaux books as our roadmap.

My parents own June & Ho, a French gourmet specialty store located in Rye (Westchester).  [June is my mom's name, Ho is my dad's name.]  They’ve been there for over 25 years – I can safely say that they are definitely a cornerstone of the community.  One day, I’m gonna have to dedicate a post to their shop – I am truly in awe of the quality they produce and I’m so proud of them.

Momma Park, being the classy lady she is, focuses primarily on Classic French fare.  The way she has always created her own signature recipes is by conducting Food Forensics: she eats as many iterations of a dish as she can…until she has enough info to create and customize it her own way.

Momma Park’s latest focus:  Cassoulet.

This morning, I get a frantic call on my cell phone.  It’s my mom: “Where are the best places in New York to get Cassoulet??!”  Me, being the uncivilized foodie I am – I didn’t even know what Cassoulet was.

According to Wikipedia, Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricotbeans.

Apparently, my mom has an older French couple who have been customers for years.  They’ve been begging my mom to make this dish.  Being that my mom aims to please, let the investigations begin!

So this Sunday, I’m responsible for plotting out a Cassoulet Crawl for the Park Family.  I’m gonna try & do my best to find the best places in NYC, according to Yelp & Chowhound, but if anyone knows of any restaurants that do an amazing Cassoulet, please let me know!

Full report to come!

The cold season is a time for braising.

Why not feel good about the meat you buy by shopping locally?  Cumbrae’s offers tradionally raised free-range and grain fed meats.

No I don’t work for them, but I do urge you to seek out the difference for yourself.  Get to know your butcher!  Is it more expensive?  By a bit, but not much.  This particular dish works out to $2.50 per serving for the meat.  Not too expensive!

The apple chutney is such a lovely accompaniment to this dish.  The tartness of the lemon and cider really cuts through the fat content of this dish.

There will be a bit of reduced fat that rises to the top of the pot.  Be sure to strain the beans well afterwards.

*New* : Printable recipe!

You should know right off the bat that there is no “way” to make this French peasant dish. The being said, I’m sure I’ve broken many rules with my version. Apparently, there is an organization, the Academic Universelle du Cassoulet, that has devoted itself to preserving the history of this dish. I have no doubt that this could very well be considered an abomination by its standards. Of course, I wouldn’t be sharing it here unless I also thought it was absolutely fantastic.

I’m not going to share many dishes that require as much time as this one, but not only is this one worth it, but it’s actually not as hard as you might imagine. The recipe I’m using was adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, and yields enough to feed a family of four a couple times over. The only item you really need that you otherwise might not have is a dutch oven, which as far as I can tell was absolutely key.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried white beans
• 2 medium celery ribs
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 pound garlic sausage (I used bratwurst)
• 4 ounces salt pork (basically uncured, uncut bacon)
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1.5 pounds pork shoulder, cubed into 1-inch chunks
• 1 white onion, chopped fine
• 2 carrots, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 slices sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
• pepper
• 1/3 cup dried cilantro

Instructions

The night before you start cooking, clean off the beans and put them in a bowl filled with salt water (about two tbsp of salt). Brining the beans will allow them to cook a little faster the next day and, at least according to Cook’s Illustrated, will help them get more tender. Leave the beans in the solution 8-24 hours.

Place the sausages and salt pork in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and allow meat to simmer for five minutes. This will allow some of the excess salt to be removed from the pork, as well as firming up the sausage which will allow you to cut it easier without it falling apart. (My picture also has the celery, rosemary and bay leaf in the pot, but that’s probably unnecessary.) Remove the pork and sausage and cut the sausage into rounds.

In the dutch oven, heat about 2 tbsp of oil and brown the sausage on all sides. (You should also preheat the oven to 300 degrees.) Transfer sausage to a medium bowl. Add cubed pork shoulder to the dutch oven, brown on all sides. Add onions and carrots; cook until onions are translucent. Add garlic and tomato paste, cooking until fragrant. Add sausage and white wine, using a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pan.

Add the bundle of celery, rosemary and bay leaf (you should tie them together to allow for easy extraction when the dish is almost done); add the salt pork; stir in the tomatoes.

Add the broth and beans, making sure the beans are fully submerged. Add up to a cup of water if beans aren’t fully covered; bring pot to a simmer. Cover the pot and place it in the oven. (The recipe said this would take about 1.5 hours, but the key is letting it cook long enough so that the beans are fully cooked. For me, that meant leaving it in the oven a little more than 2 hours.) Once beans are done, remove the salt pork and celery bundle. Season with pepper (I suppose you could add more salt, but I highly doubt you’ll need it). Increase oven to 350 degrees and bake, uncovered, for 20 more minutes.

While the dish is cooking, put the torn bread pieces in a food processor with about 1 tbsp of oil, making bread crumbs. Transfer to a medium bowl and mix with cilantro. (Alternatively, you could just use Italian-style premade bread crumbs.) Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the dutch oven and sprinkle about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. Return to oven and bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes. Hopefully, the bread crumbs will have created a sort of boat. Sprinkle remaining bread crumbs and bake, uncovered until the dish is golden brown, 30 minutes to an hour.

Let stand for at least 15 minutes. Supposedly, the top of the cassoulet should almost be hard enough to crack. Mine wasn’t, but it really didn’t seem to matter. It was great hot and reheated in the microwave wonderfully. There’s no question this is a time-consuming dish

Service

I liked it just spooned into a bowl. My wife found that a little rich, and we tried serving it over white rice, which was awesome.

How long it will take you: Understanding that you have to start your prep the day before, I’d give yourself at least four hours to finish this off.

How much it will set you back: 1 pound sausage $4 ($.50 per serving); 1.5 pounds pork shoulder $7 ($.75); 4 oz salt pork $1.50 ($.20); can of tomatoes $1.50 ($.20); bottle of wine $2 (let’s be honest, just buy the classic TJ’s standby and assume you’re going to drink the rest of the bottle while you’re cooking); miscellaneous items $2 ($.25). Total: $18 ($2.25 per person).

Yeah it’s French. But it’s really just white bean stew. A peasant dish. Leave it to poor people to know what to do with leftovers.

I had a leftover duck leg that was cured, real bacon bits, and some leftover dried scallops. Some traditional recipes call for sausage but I decided to give it a little surf and turf twist. It’s a stew, not rocket science. Throw in whatever you’ve got.

Like all stews, time is your buddy. After 2 hours of simmering in it’s own fat, the duck meat will fall off the bone. And the beans will taste like everything you put in the pot. You can imagine how awesome it tastes the next day.

Recipe

Hi Everyone:

On Friday night my friend Katherine and I made a fantastic pasta fagioli. Katherine has Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything and that is where we found the recipe. It was fantastic – and I will definitely be making the recipe again soon. I think it is one of the most perfect foods for fall and winter.

I was in charge of dicing up a lot of garlic (because I do it so well):

I love lots of garlic!

In this pot most of the ingredients have been added, sans the vegetable broth and pasta…

Soon after we added the broth and pasta. My bowl looked like this when we sat down to eat:

We also enjoyed a couple of pieces of Iggy’s bread with our soup. I definitely had seconds on the soup, and I will be making it again soon because it was amazing.

On Saturday I decided to have my friends Tim and Nicole over for dinner. They are always feeding me, so I decided it was about time I had them over for dinner I enjoyed hanging out with Henri during the evening. I cannot believe he is six weeks old already. Wow!

Saturday I decided to make another version of cassoulet. I found the recipe I used on the Food Network. I really love watching The Next Food Network Star and a couple of seasons ago I really liked Lisa Garza. I remember the episode when she made her cassoulet and all of the judges on the show loved it.

Here is the recipe:

White Bean Cassoulet

Unfortunately while I was making this dish, I could not find my camera (what!?) and it took me a while to put all of this together. I even made the spinach pesto! My cassoulet turned out a little bit strange because I accidently put 1/2 a cup of the spinach pesto in my le creuset where I was cooking the rest of the ingredients together… I was supposed to be using it as a garnish. I still had plenty of the spinach pesto left, so I did use it as a garnish as well…. and I do not think it ruined the taste of the cassoulet (at least that is what my dinner guests told me). Oops.
Here is what my cassoulet looked like when we sat down to dinner:
I apologize for the low grade photograph… it was taken via my iPhone! Tim and Nicole brought over a baguette from Seven Stars (my favorite!) and they also brought dessert. A fantastic apricot clafoutis. This dessert is a masterpiece!

Here is the recipe:

Jacques Pepin’s Apricot Clafoutis

OK, that about wraps up my last couple of days in the kitchen! I’m off to get some exercise…. it is a perfect day outside, so I am off for a run. See you soon!

energia eólica bombando em todas as estradas francesas…

véro debate com o garçon do nosso restaurante de cassoulet, no país cátaro, sobre a melhor maneira de chegar a barcelona… mon dieu, estes franceses adoram conversar entre si!!!!!! sobre mapas e comidas e rugby!

país cátaro

monumento aos mortos pela frança, la grasse

a lindíssima toulouse

virginie, praça do capitólio, toulouse

a cozinha da virginie em toulouse

toulouse

toulouse, pátio interno da abadia dos jacobines

um dia ainda terei um quintal assim: le jardin du georges durand, la grasse

vaquinhas da raça “limousine” na estrada… porque aqui limousine é marca de vaca!

depois de comer um cassoulet a gente fica assim…

la sorbonne, vista da minha escola

produção artesanal de vinho na cave du georges durand

Serves 8.

A beautiful, well-browned crust is one of the glories of cassoulet, but how often the crust should be broken and pushed down into the cassoulet while it cooks is open to debate. Etienne Rousselot, owner of Hostellerie Etienne, whose recipe is adapted here, recommends breaking the crust often enough to keep the beans moist – at least four times. Others say that it should be broken every hour. We prefer to break the crust only as necessary (see steps 6 and 8). Rousselot defies Castelnaudary tradition by often using duck instead of goose; he finds it more tender. Cassoulet may be cooked for seven hours straight, but we prefer it cooked over two days.

# 4 cups of dried great northern or other small white beans
# 4 fresh ham hocks (about 1 lb. each)
# 3 large yellow onions, peeled and quartered
# 5 sprigs thyme
# Salt and freshly ground black pepper
# 1 third lb. fresh pork rind, cubed
# 1 ham bone
# 1 tbsp. duck fat
# 1 lb. unseasoned fresh pork sausage, (about 4 links), cut into 2″ pieces
# 1 large head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled (about 3 quarter cup)
# Confit of 1 quartered duck or 4 whole legs
# 1 quarter tsp. nutmeg

1. Rinse beans thoroughly, pick through and discard stones, then set beans aside.

2. Place ham hocks in a large pot. Add 1 onion, thyme, and salt and pepper. Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partiallly covered, for 2 hours. Remove from heat, allow to cool for 15 minutes,then drain ham hocks, discarding onion and thyme. Cut meat from each hock into 2 pieces. Discard bones and set meat aside.

3. Meanwhile, place pork rind, ham bone and 1 onion in a large,heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until pork rind is rendered, about 20 minutes. Add beans and enough water to cover by 1 – 2 ” (about 8 cups) and season with salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook until beans are tender, about 45 minutes. Adjust salt, if necessary, then set beans aside to cool.

4. Heat duck fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages and cook, turning to brown on all sides, for about 10 minutes. Place garlic, remaining onion and 1/2 cup water in a blender and puree until smooth. Add garlic paste to sausages and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, turning sausages occasionally, for 10 minutes more.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a slotted spoon, remove and discard ham bone and onion from beans (it is okay if some pieces of onion remain). Using a slotted spoon, transfer about half the beans with pork rind to a heavy wide-mouthed 8 serving-size cassole. Assemble cassoulet in layers: place the meat from the ham hocks on top of the beans and cover with sausages and garlic paste. Divide duck into 8 pieces by separating drumsticks from thighs and, if using a whole duck, splitting breasts in half crosswise through the bone. Arrange duck on sausages, then spoon in remaining beans with pork rind. Season with nutmeg and add just enough reseved bean cooking liquid to cover the beans (about 3 cups.) Reserve remaining liquid. Bake, uncovered, until cassoulet comes to a simmer and a crust begins to form, about 1 hour.

6. Reduce heat to 250 degrees and cook for 3 hours, checking every hour or so to make sure cassoulet is barely simmering (a little liquid should be bubbling around edges of cassoulet). if cassoulet appears dry, break crust (browned top layer) by gently pushing it down with the back of a spoon, allowing a new layer of beans to rise to the surface. Add just enought reserved bean cooking liquid (or water) to moisten beans.

7. Remove cassoulet from oven. Allow to cool completely, then cover with a lid or aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

8. Remove cassoulet from refrigerator and allow to warm to room temperature for at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 1 hour. When cassoulet begins to simmer, break crust and add enough warm water to just cover beans (about 1 cup). Reduce heat to 250 degrees and bake, breaking crust and adding water as needed, for 3 hours. Remove cassoulet from oven and allow to rest for 15 – 20 minutes. Serve cassoulet from the cassole, breaking the crust at the table.

This recipe was first published in “Saveur” in Issue #24 and has been slightly edited.

We have some truly exciting things in mind for the coming weeks! Here’s a preview.

First, tonight’s specials will be basically the same as last night’s. For those wondering what the Soup of the Day is, it’s Chicken Vegetable Tortilla.

Now, for we upcoming weekends, starting tomorrow night, we have some real goodies planned, so make your reservations now if your mouth starts watering!

First, we’re going to feature amongst our specials this weekend a 14-oz. Veal Osso Bucco Cooked with Pureed Fall Root Vegetables, served on a bed of pappardelle pasta.

Then, starting this Friday and Saturday and continuing each weekend through the first two weeks of November, we’re going to offer a Bistro 185 Individual Clambake. It’s just like any other clambake, only each one is personal-sized: big enough for just you! Each person who orders a Personal Clambake will receive his or her own potful of goodies cooked in clam broth, including a “maris section” crab leg (the portion between the knuckle and the claw), a South African lobster tail, jumbo shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, chicken thighs, redskin potatoes, and corn on the cob. Your clambake will be served with cornbread and melted butter so you can enjoy it to the fullest!

But that’s not all we’re working on that’s new and special. This Monday, October 12, the Bistro introduces its new Fall Menu, featuring some specials we think you’re really going to love. Here are some of the items we have planned:

House-Smoked Chicken with Four-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese: Replacing our Limoncello Chicken summer special, this treat will star our own smoked chicken with a combination of Gruyère, Brie, Emmenthaler and Parmesan cheeses on medium shell pasta, with black truffle, finished with a bit of white truffle oil. We like to call it “Ultimate Mac & Cheese.” We think you will, too.

Duck Three-Way: We’ve served duck the same way here at the Bistro since we opened. Time to change things up! That’s what we’ll be doing with this new dish: a duck ragout with a confit, served with a quarter roasted duck and sliced smoked duck breast. This creation will most likely be presented on a bed of pappardelle pasta.

Gumbo of the Week: We will feature a new and different gumbo each week. Next week’s will combine shrimp, chicken and andouille sausage.

Seafood Stews: We’ll be rotating a variety of seafood stews through our specials, influenced by different regions and countries, such as Thailand and Italy.

Cassoulets: Look for a rotating variety of cassoulets, including classic French and seafood.

Risottos: We’ll also rotate a variety of risottos highlighting various ingredients.

Julia Project Classics: We’ll rotate some of the most popular dishes we served during the Julia Project back through our fall menu.

A few items that are already on our specials, and have earned a permanent place throughout our fall menu, are our two most popular Julia Project dishes of all: the Lamb Shank with Baby Fall Vegetables and the Pork Tenderloin with Port and Prunes. We will also continue to offer our Calves’ Liver entree, which recently won Scene Magazine’s Best in Cleveland award for Best Liver That’s Not Foie Gras.

In the future, also look for another very special dish: Cornish Hen Wrapped in Bacon with a Ginger-Maple Glaze, Acorn Squash, Brussels Sprouts, Pecans, Roasted Shallots and Roasted Garlic.

To learn more about our fall menu, and to keep up with the nightly specials, keep checking this space. You won’t want to miss anything!

For serious food lovers, a simple, but authentic, dish of humble origins can surpass the most elaborate and dazzling display of culinary prowess.

Consider the Cassoulet, a peasant dish whose main ingredient is beans; white beans flavored with sausage, pork rind, potted fowl and perfumed with garlic and a sprig of fresh thyme. Its gastronomic appeal has endured throughout the centuries garnering a sort of cult status among the culinary cognoscenti.

According to legend, cassoulet was invented during the Hundred Year War (1377 to 1453) when the fortress town of Castelnaudary in Southwestern France was besieged by the British and the locals were reduced to near starvation. Out of this hunger and desperation, Cassoulet was born from the meager dried beans, sausage and preserved poultry supplies on hand.

Cassoulet was named for the cassole, the primitive earthenware pot in which the cassoulet is cooked. The two are inextricably linked, as its distinctive shape, slanted narrow at the base and wide at its mouth maximizes the beans’ exposure to the oven’s heat, forming the true cassoulet’s signature “crust.” As per tradition, the pot is glazed on the inside and around the lip, but raw on the outside. Rustic and simple, the “vrai” cassole is as sturdy and hearty as the white beans that give cassoulet its soul. When tapped, the true cassoles produce a distinctive sound, like glassware.

For decades, American chefs have trekked to France to smuggle back the rare lingot beans, but the final missing ingredient has been the ‘veritable” cassole. One renowned chef even convinced a potter in Minnesota to recreate a stoneware version, but in the search for authenticity, nothing can replace the clay dug from the Issel earth where the cassoulet was born.

There, along the fabled Route du Cassoulet, in the village of Mas-Saintes Puelles, outside of Castelnaudary, is the artisanal pottery workshop of the Not Brothers – the only place on earth where true cassoles are hand-spun from local clay as they have been for centuries.

Unlike most terra cotta pots, these extra thick cassoles are fired at extremely high temperatures to insure that they are rock hard, built to withstand the high temperatures that cassoulet requires. With age (and use), these cassoles will darken and acquire a rich patina.

Authentic Poterie Not Freres cassoles are now available. They are produced in limited quantities and can be ordered in three sizes from:
Savoir Vivre Utensils, P.O. Box 63685, Philadelphia PA 19147
Phone: 215-218-0152. Fax: 215-218-0153
or on-line at www.SavoirVivreUtensils.com

For serving four persons: approx. 10 ½” dia. $66 + Shipping
For serving six persons: approx. 11 ¾” dia. $75 + Shipping
For serving eight persons: approx. 13” dia. $84 + Shipping

(Cassoulet is too much work and too good to only make two portions but it actually gets better when re-heated for a second or even a third day’s meal.)

amigos, escrevo de barcelona, onde cheguei há pouco dirigindo o peugeot da véro, com ela do lado, dormindo num sol de sete da tarde, bem europeu e louco. chegamos numa barcelona frenetic, pelas ramblas. pessoas quentes atravessando a rua, o mercadinho hype, as ramblas, as igrejas, as lojas, com seus ipods, sacolas, bengalas, cachorros, um bronzeado de gringo nas nucas brancas, um calorrrrrr, uma alegria, uma surpresa…

loucuras. o mínimo que posso falar. daqui há pouco coloco (montes de) fotos, porque a maioria ficou presa no meu blackberry novo de neo-galega deslumbrete, que esqueceu o código-pin em paris.

vou ficar indo e vindo paris-barcelona durante o mês de outubro, porque a véro vai trabalhar daqui.

mas, va bien, em menos de 4 dias, eu:

1 – fiz um teste na minha nova escola de francês da prefeitura de paris, na rua victor-cousin, EM FRENTE a sorbonne, e a professora disse que meu frances já é bom, e que vai me botar no nivel dois, e a escola eh fofinha de linda, eh de crianças de dia, e de adultos de noite, e no meu caminho eu passo toda terça e quinta por notre dame, que me saúda misticamente com a ave-maria de seus sinos toda seis da tarde, e eu agradeço… e eu penso na ave-maria que eu costumava escutar quando era criança no quintal da casa da minha avó, em belo horizonte, dos sinos que vinham da igreja do carmo… a mesma ave-maria. eu mando beijos para minha avó, em paris.  (finalizei também um texto que escrevi com a minha querida laura para a bienal do mercosul e uma newsletter para uma empresa)

2 – assisti, a convite da minha querida véro, a genial cantora e compositora emiliana torrini no olympia de paris, uma casa onde já se apresentaram os maiores mestres da musica do mundo. o show foi incrível,  ela é uma graça e muito intensa, milhares de fotos e vídeos que eu mostro depois… (incrível como a gente pode receber músicas de amor a 10 mil quilômetros de distância e depois, em menos de dois meses, ver ao vivo a cantora, em paris. incrível do que a toda a gente é capaz).

3 – tomei um drink com karine e alice et vero num restaurante chiquérrimo do lado do l’opera.  juro que eu moraria dentro do banheiro daquele lugar.

4 – entrevistei em inglês o franceseeeeérrrrimo lighting design louis clair, pra revista que eu colaboro, meu primeiro apontamento profissional em paris.

5 – cruzei todo o sul da frança de carro, conheci o massivo central, fui saudada pelo pôr do sol de um lado, e pela lua cheia de outro, vi cervos selvagens nos antigos bosques do rei.

6 – aprendi porque as uvas desenvolvem sabores diferentes dependendo dos lugares onde crescem

7 – dirigi um peugeot na fronteira entre frança e espanha, cruzando os pirineus sobre uma estradinha curva e estreita de noite, vendo do alto dos pirineus a lua cheia jogando um brilho incrível sobre o mediterrâneo, essa imensa baía sedutora do capeta…

8 – vi um castelo do seculo 11 absolutamente impecável em carcassonne, onde um lorde de 24 anos se rebelou contra a sanha dos templários e protegeu os cátaros do massacre iminente, pagando com sua vida por isso… fiquei sabendo bastante sobre os cátaros, mais do que eu já sabia. vou conhecer o monte onde todos eles tiveram suas cabeças cortadas pelos templários.

9 – comi o primeiro cassoulet da minha vida, em frente ao canal de midi

10 – vi um treinamento da legiao estrangeira!

11 – pernoitei em portbou, onde walter benjamin se suicidou com morfina, em 26 de setembro de 1940, por medo de ser alcançado pelos nazistas… portbou é lindíssima, eu vou passar um tempo lá, com certeza, antes que os franceses descubram aquela beleza toda. eu vou sentir benjamin em portbou, ah se vou.

12 – visitei o memorial de benjamin sobre as rochas, projetando-se sobre o mar, com minha namorada, e pensei que a vida precisa ser intensamente vivida, e que eu preciso ser mais entregue

13 – emocionei-me  quando deixei a última cidade de frança, ao volante,  e vi a fronteira da espanha, um check point bobíssimo, que nem tem guarda…

14 – fiz o primeiro topless da minha vida adulta numa praia espanhola cheia de areia negra e água azul cristalina. um velhinho produtor de vinho em la grasse se apaixonou por mim (com minhas pernas de “jogadora de rugby”, hehe) e pediu a minha mao pra véro… missier georges durand, old school total…

15 – comi um loup de mer e uma sangria num restaurante sobre o mar e as pedras

16 – dirigi até barcelona, onde nos perdemos e nos encontramos

17 – subi cinco andares de escadas com as bagagens

18 – saí pra jantar com a véro com duas das maiores artistas-intelectuais da frança e da espanha, em barcelona (véro vai editar o filme de uma delas) e elas pagaram a conta.

19 – conversei com beatriz preciado sobre livros e peformance e achei que a vida pode ser incrivelmente feliz como a gente sonhou no nosso próprio conto de fadas. fiquei tensíssima quando a virginie despentes perguntou por que que eu gostei do filme dela, e nem consegui responder, fiquei gaguejando em inglês, bem idiota e horrível.

(daqui a pouco eu volto, com fotos)

por enquanto, c’est çaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!