Cassoulet

Cassoulet

Ingredients

5 cups/1100 g Tarbais beans (see Suppliers) or white beans
2 pounds/900 g fresh pork belly
1 onion, cut into 4 pieces
1 pound/450 g pork rind
1 bouquet garni (see Glossary)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup/56 g duck fat
6 pork sausages
3 onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
4 confit duck legs (which you already have, non?)

Equipment

large bowl
large pot
strainer or colander
sauté pan
paper towels
blender
large, ovenproof earthenware dish
measuring cup
kitchen spoon 

Day One

Place the beans in the large bowl and cover with cold water so that there are at least 2 or 3 inches of water above the top of the beans. Soak overnight. That was hard, right?

Day Two

Drain and rinse the beans and place in the large pot. Add the pork belly, the quartered onion, 1/4 pound/112 g of the pork rind, and the bouquet garni. Cover with water, add salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the beans are tender, about an hour. Let cool for 20 minutes, then discard the onion and the bouquet garni. Remove the pork belly, cut it into 2-inch/5-cm squares, and set aside. (If you plan to wait another day before finishing the dish, wait to cut the pork belly until then.) Strain the beans and the rind and set aside, reserving the cooking liquid separately.

In the sauté pan, heat all but 1 tablespoon/14 g of the duck fat over medium-high heat until it shimmers and becomes transparent. Carefully add the sausages and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside, draining on paper towels. In the same pan, over medium-high heat, brown the sliced onions, the garlic and the reserved squares of pork rind from the beans (not the unused pork rind; you'll need that later). Once browned, remove from the heat and transfer to the blender. Add 1 tablespoon/14 g of the remaining duck fat and purée until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Place the uncooked pork rind in the bottom of a deep ovenproof earthenware dish. You're looking to line the inside, almost like a pie crust. Arrange all your ingredients in alternating layers, beginning with a layer of beans, then sausages, then more beans, then pork belly, beans, duck confit and finally more beans, adding a dab of the onion and pork rind purée between each layer. Add enough of the bean cooking liquid to just cover the beans, reserving 1 cup/225 ml in the refrigerator for later use. Cook the cassoulet in the oven for 1 hour, then reduce the heat to 250ºF/130ºC and cook for another hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight.

Day Three

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC again. Cook the cassoulet for an hour. Break the crust on the top with the spoon and add 1/4 cup/56 ml of the reserved cooking liquid. (Don't get fancy. Just pile, dab, stack and pile. It doesn't have to be pretty.) Reduce the heat to 250ºF/130ºC and continue cooking another 15 minutes, or until screamingly hot through and through. Then serve.