19 replies to this topic

[wahoooob]

We should organize a Fifty-Dollar Friday (or Thursday, or Wednesday, whatever) and have Tom Power make us cassoulet and suck down a bunch of La Negly wine. The man rocks haricots Tarbais something fierce.

Hmmm.. okay seeing this, anyone have a good recipe?

[agm]

Hmmm.. okay seeing this, anyone have a good recipe?

Paula Wolfert has a pretty good recipe for a Toulouse-style cassoulet. Try this one: Wolfert's cassoulet

[DanielK]

Paula Wolfert has a pretty good recipe for a Toulouse-style cassoulet. Try this one: Wolfert's cassoulet

If that's the recipe that you use, then I wholeheartedly endorse it...

[Heather]

I use a mashup of Wolfert's recipe from The Cooking of Southwest France (a fabulous cookbook, you should buy it) and a couple of others. I will say that the right beans are essential, and the cassole she recommends was worth the money.

[Waitman]

I use a mashup of Wolfert's recipe from The Cooking of Southwest France (a fabulous cookbook, you should buy it) and a couple of others. I will say that the right beans are essential, and the cassole she recommends was worth the money.

I will second Heather's recommendation on both the book and the cooking implement. We have one of those cassoles as well and I think it is almost essential to the dish, not to mention a very cool piece of pottery.
ETA: this reply was from Mrs. B. I didn't realize Waitman had logged in on my computer.

[zoramargolis]

I saw Tarbais beans for sale at Surfas, when I was in L.A. in August. At $25 a pound, they had me seriously questioning my dedication to authenticity. I think cannelini beans will have to do, until my ship comes in.

[Waitman]

I saw Tarbais beans for sale at Surfas, when I was in L.A. in August. At $25 a pound, they had me seriously questioning my dedication to authenticity. I think cannelini beans will have to do, until my ship comes in.

Flagelots do a pretty good job.

[Heather]

Flagelots do a pretty good job.

Available from Rancho Gordo for far less than $25/lb.

[DanielK]

Available from Rancho Gordo for far less than $25/lb.

Unless that's all you're ordering, as the shipping is not cheap.

[Poivrot Farci]

I saw Tarbais beans for sale at Surfas, when I was in L.A. in August. At $25 a pound, they had me seriously questioning my dedication to authenticity. I think cannelini beans will have to do, until my ship comes in.

Sabarot sells dried coco beans (another type of lingot bean) from the Lauragais region for a mere $4 or so which is the standard bean for Castelnoudary cassoulet and neighboring garbure in the Béarn. Short of that, navy beans are an adequate substitute.

For cassoulet purists, there are 3 primary varieties which all fight for the distinction of having invented the dish and each comprising their particular base proteins:
Castelnoudary, “The Father”; pork products (shank, belly, butt, shoulder, sausage, etc…) and goose or duck confit.
Carcasonne, “The Son”; pork and red-legged partridge.
Toulouse, “The Holy Spirit”; pork, lamb, mutton, duck confit, Toulouse and pork skin sausage.

According to Prosper Montagé,a Carcansonne native who drafted the first edition of the Larousse Gastronomique and most rival Chauriens, a legend suggests that the cassoulet started in Castelnoudary during the Hundred Years’ War as a means of feeding the troops who, well fed by an enormous ragoût called estofat later beat the Brits. However, common beans weren’t introduced to Europe from South America until the 16th century, so the story is probably a comforting tale to reclaim some sort of honor after the town was mostly burned to the ground during said war. Dried favas or other broad beans were likely used back then and the dish was called estouffet up until the 18th century when it acquired the cassoulet title. Any authentic version of either from the cassoulet trinity should contain pork skin lining the cassole which thickens the cooking liquid and prevents the beans from burning.

[Heather]

Unless that's all you're ordering, as the shipping is not cheap.

It still works out to be a reasonable price for a high quality product, especially for something I make once or twice a year.

[zoramargolis]

Flagelots do a pretty good job.

Available from Rancho Gordo for far less than $25/lb.

It still works out to be a reasonable price for a high quality product, especially for something I make once or twice a year.

Not quite clear on this: what kind of beans are you getting from Rancho Gordo for your cassoulet--tarbais or flageolets?

[Heather]

Not quite clear on this: what kind of beans are you getting from Rancho Gordo for your cassoulet--tarbais or flageolets?

Flageolets.

[hungry prof]

Reviving this thread after 3+ years. I'm gearing up to make cassoulet for New Year's. Anybody know where to get Toulouse-style sausage in the DC-area? Stachowski's doesn't list it among their sausages on their website. Paula Wolfert recommends an online source, but that winds up being $50 for a pound of sausage once you factor in shipping. If the answer is no, anybody have a substitute to recommend? Thanks.

[Pat]

Reviving this thread after 3+ years. I'm gearing up to make cassoulet for New Year's. Anybody know where to get Toulouse-style sausage in the DC-area? Stachowski's doesn't list it among their sausages on their website. Paula Wolfert recommends an online source, but that winds up being $50 for a pound of sausage once you factor in shipping. If the answer is no, anybody have a substitute to recommend? Thanks.

Have you tried Society Fair?

[Heather]

If making your own sausage is an option, Waitman has an excellent recipe (from the chef at La Chaumiere, IIRC) that he may be willing to share. I just looked through my book and don't have it anymore. I have used Wolfert's recipe from the book I named above, but liked his recipe better.

[zoramargolis]

Check at the d'Artagnan website. Or, Stachowski's kielbasa will work if you can't find or make exactly what you are looking for=pork sausage with garlic.

[The Hersch]

How about the saucisson à l'ail from Les Trois Petits Cochons? Calvert Woodley carries it. I think they usually charge $12.99 a pound for it. It's very good.

[hungry prof]

Thanks, all. I've never made my own sausage and I'll need to get some equipment to do so, but maybe now's the time.

[Barbara]

If making your own sausage is an option, Waitman has an excellent recipe (from the chef at La Chaumiere, IIRC) that he may be willing to share. I just looked through my book and don't have it anymore. I have used Wolfert's recipe from the book I named above, but liked his recipe better.

I don't actually hope to eat a better cassoulet than the one Waitman and Mrs. B served on January 20, 2009. A mob of people in a state of absolute bliss and just happy to be together, combined with a sublime cassoulet and other foodstuffs brought by the guests. It was perfect; much to the disappointment of Mrs. B--who hoped to have some leftovers. Not a stray bean was left uneaten. A meal I will remember all my life.