cassoulet

It has taken me a little time to post on this subject. Maybe it’s because of the repercussions it has had upon my outlook on life. Or it could be I’m a little slow. The alien explanation could probably also fit into this drama but will leave out the details on that one for now.

Thursday, June 9th, started out like any other Thursday. Woke up, got out of bed, drug a comb across my head. Little did I know how the events that would unfold would change my life forever.

I had vague images of what cassoulet would be. All I knew was it came in its own little dish, it had beans in it, and meat. A good summary. quick and to the point, unlike this rambling mess. I didn’t even know how to spell cassoulet when I first went looking for it on the internets – i think my first attempts involved a lot of k’s and z’s – kazzouleigh – probably not that bad but close. I obviously don’t know french very well but a quick search on google for the wonder ful dish and finnaly arrived at this and this.

We arrived at Chard’s early in the evening. The house had a wonderful smell to it. The gentle odors floating throughout the house. A cocktail was procured and the night began. there wasn’t a whole lot of preparation to be done. Dinner was on Thursday and Chard had started making the meal on Tuesday. Many hours of love were put into the dish. There were three stocks involved in the dish and these were prepared starting on Tuesday (lamb, chicken, and ?).

A quick rundown of the ingredients – white beans, lamb sausage, bacon, ham hocks, and duck confit. The duck confit was fabulous. What can you say about meat that is cooked in its own fat.

This also falls into another one of those items where I didn’t have a clue about what it was. The term was brought up a few times in conversation prior to the meal, but I always heard it as “ducken feet.” On top of the dish was a thin crust made with bread crumbs and glazed over with some of the leftover lamb stock. Here is the cassoulet – straight out of the oven. It needed to cool off and setup for about a half hour.

A pleasant salad started out the meal. Spinach, avocado, hearts of palm, hard boiled egg, and some dressing (everyone else got some tomatoes but alas they are not to my liking.)

These two photos represent brand new and half eaten cassoulet.

The overall meal was quite fantastic. It had been a long while since I’ve had a food experience to match the cassoulet. Arguably, the richest meal I’ve ever eaten. Each new bite provided a suprise to my palate. A tasty bean, some bacon, ooooh the crispy top, duck…… Really, a night for the ages. Definitely want to be in on that next time around. But the preparation time and the enormity of the meal make it more like a once a year occasion. I think I was still full on Saturday.

One last picture of a meal well done.