Moderately Meaty Cassoulet Recipes

Steps:

• Soak and cook beans:
• Cover beans with cold water by 2 inches in a large bowl and soak 8 to 12 hours. Drain in a colander.
• Transfer beans to a 6- to 8-quart pot and bring to a boil with 8 cups cold water, broth, tomato paste, onion, and 2 tablespoons garlic. Put celery, thyme, bay leaf, cloves, parsley sprigs, and peppercorns in cheesecloth and tie into a bundle with string to make a bouquet garni. Add bouquet garni to beans, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until beans are almost tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir in tomatoes with juice and simmer until beans are just tender, about 15 minutes more.
• Prepare duck and sausage while beans simmer:
• Remove all skin and fat from duck legs and cut skin and fat into 1/2-inch pieces. Separate duck meat from bones, leaving it in large pieces, and transfer meat to a bowl. Add bones to bean pot.
• Cook duck skin and fat with remaining 1/4 cup cold water in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until water is evaporated and fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until skin is crisp, 3 to 6 minutes more. Transfer cracklings with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, leaving fat in skillet. (You should have about 1/4 cup fat; if not, add olive oil.)
• Brown sausage in batches in fat in skillet, then transfer to bowl with duck meat, reserving skillet.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Make bread crumb topping:
• Add remaining tablespoon garlic to fat in skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in bread crumbs and cook, stirring, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cracklings.
• Assemble casserole:
• Remove bouquet garni and duck bones from beans and discard, then stir in kielbasa, duck meat, remaining teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Ladle cassoulet into casserole dish, distributing meat and beans evenly. (Meat and beans should be level with liquid; if they are submerged, ladle excess liquid back into pot and boil until reduced, then pour back into casserole dish.) Spread bread crumb topping evenly over cassoulet and bake, uncovered, in lower third of oven, until bubbling and crust is golden, about 1 hour.
• Available at some butcher shops and D'Artagnan (800-327-8246).

Steps:

• Place the beans in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon table salt (or 2 tablespoons kosher salt). Add cold water until beans are covered to a depth of 2". Let stand at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse.
• Preheat oven to 250°F In a large Dutch oven, combine beans, ham shank, rosemary, thyme sprigs, intact onion half, garlic cloves, bay leaf and 8 cups cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and transfer to the oven until beans are tender, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, trim the stem end of the garlic head. Coat with 2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and wrap loosely in foil. Place in oven to roast alongside the beans.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add the kielbasa and cook until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, minced onion and minced thyme. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms give off their liquid and it has evaporated, and the onions are soft, 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until the beans are done.
• When the beans are cooked, increase oven to 350°F Remove pot from oven, then remove and reserve the ham shank. Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, onion half, garlic cloves, and bay leaf. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Place 1 1/2 cups of reserved cooking liquid in a saucepan (discard the rest). Reduce by half over medium heat.
• Carefully remove the garlic head from the foil, reserving any oil. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the cooked cloves into the reduced cooking liquid; mash, then whisk well to combine. Return this mixture to the beans.
• The meat from the ham bone may be shredded and added to the beans at this point, if desired. Add the mushroom-onion mixture to the beans. Stir well, then pack into a 9x13" casserole. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, then drizzle with reserved garlic oil (if there isn't enough, add plain olive oil). Bake uncovered in preheated oven 25 minutes. Increase heat to broil for 5 minutes to crisp the top before serving.