Storkbite’s Papa has been asking for a cassoulet for weeks.  The weather is getting warmer and my time to make such a hearty dish was coming to an end.  I really don’t have the time or patience to follow a Julia Child recipe at the moment so I decided to just wing it.  It turned out both hearty and satisfying.  After standing around at the park all afternoon chasing Storkbite, the faux cassoulet was the shot in the arm I needed.

Faux Cassoulet

First off — soak your beans up to two days in advance. Find the biggest white beans you can find and soak a whole pound.   This recipe really requires the right pot.  I have a large shallow cast iron Le Creuset pan with lid that is really the best tool for the job.  It allows the beans to be evenly distributed in the cooking liquid.  If you are trying this with a deep cast iron Dutch oven you may want to increase the amount of cooking liquid to almost cover the beans.

Ingredients:

• 4 duck legs
• 1 lb. soaked large white beans
• 1/4 chopped bacon
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 12 pearl / boiling onions
• 2 tbs. tomato paste
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1 tsp. beef “Better than Bouillion”
• 2 c. hot water
• olive oil

On high heat drizzle pan with oil, brown the duck legs that have been salted.  Add bacon and brown, add whole peeled onions.  Once the bacon is browned and onions are slightly caramelized, remove duck legs and move everything to the side of the pan.  Add tomato paste and garlic.  Reduce heat and when the tomato paste is melted, add drained  beans.  Combine beans, bacon, onions and tomato paste.  Place duck legs on top. Add two sprigs of rosemary and 2 cups water with beef bouillion mixed in, cover and place in preheated 375 degree oven for 1 hour.

If toddler is cranky and you have to clean up the apartment like I did, reduce heat to 325 and let it go for a little longer.  You will want to test the beans for doneness before serving.   The duck should fall off the bone.

The taste of cassoulet in 1 hour prep and 1 hour cook time.  Take that Jules.