Our Cynical Omelet
Totally Non-Toxic Cuisine: Cassoul…ish
Posted on 2/19/2010 at 11:53:19 AM
Spending so much time snowed in this winter revived a nascent interest in cooking, and over the past two months, I began to play around with recipe sites and magazine—all of which, over the past six weeks or so, have been flogging recipes for cassoulet.
Until this, I remembered the word only as a shorthand for “Frugal Gourmet Recipe I Hated During My Teenage Years.” Not wanting to spend all my worldly goods on meat, however, I eschewed all the meat except sausage, which I got at the grocery, and confit duck legs, which I got here. It is pricy, but when you consider that duck confit takes at least a day and a few pounds of duck fat (and that I am a smallish Crazy Cat Lady), this was an easy choice.
Here, more or less, is the recipe that led to a good dinner this week (makes 2 servings):
- Remind yourself that you’d pay more for two portions at a decent restaurant.
- Chop some kielbasa (or sausage of your choice) into small cubes, about 1/4″
- Over ovenproof frying pan, strip meat and skin in small pieces from duck leg; put these, with some of the fat from the can, in the pan and add sausage.
- To this, add garlic to taste, something onion-flavored (I hate actual onions, so resorted to a dash of powder), salt and pepper
- Add a can of canellini beans, approximately 4 oz chicken broth and a very generous splash of white wine (I used Cavit Pinot Grigio). Let simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Chop a handful of parsley and add to mixture. Stir.
- Realize that the can of crushed tomatoes suggested by several of the recipes you looked at might in some way dim the heavenly smell of what’s on the stove. Ignore it.
- Mix bread crumbs (I used crushed garlic-cheddar croutons) and sprinkle-able parmesan cheese in a bowl. Use to top the mixture before putting it in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Savor the knowledge that, since you only used one duck leg, you get to do this again soon!
I suspect the finished product would be recognizable to no French person anywhere, but it was fantastic.