My Last Ditch Effort for Winter Food

Okay it's warming up so your chance for those hearty, sexy winter dishes are disappearing.  In honor of the end of winter here is my favourite winter recipe.  I know it seems a bit daunting but it is really easy but takes time.  You can actually spread it over a couple of days.  If you can't find Duck confit ask your butcher or you can order it online.  D'artagnan is a good purveyor.  Or if you are really up to it you can make your own. 

 To do that you just mix together 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1 T. Thyme, 1 T. ground white pepper, and 2 ground bay leaves.  Rub that all over 12 12 whole duck legs (including thighs) and place in a large zip top bag with 15 crushed garlic cloves.  Place in fridge for a whole day.  Here the fun part, heat 3 pounds of rendered duck in in a large saucepan.  Meanwhile scrape the salt mixture from the duck legs and rinse off.  Place in a large roasting pan and pour the hot duck fat over.  Cover this with foil and place in a 325 degree oven for 3 1/2 hours till crazy tender.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  It will keep for a couple of months.  Or freeze it and it will last even longer.  Oh and don't throw that duck fat away.  Cook everything in it.  Add it to cereal, ice cream, anything is better with duck fat.  Duck fat rules. 

  Cassoulet

(Serves 8 as an entrée)

 

Ingredients

For cassoulet

-1 ½ lb great northern beans, soaked overnight in 4 qts of water

-10 c water

-2 c beef or veal broth

-2 sprigs of parsley

-5 sprigs of thyme

-1/2 t black peppercorns

-2 garlic cloves crushed

-2 cloves

-1 bay leaf

-1 smoked pork shank

-4 duck confit legs

-2 medium onions, diced

-1 large carrot, peeled and diced

-1 celery stalk, diced

-2 minced garlic cloves

- 1 can (14 oz) stewed tomatoes, chopped

 -1 T salt

-3/4 t black pepper

-4 good German sausages, bockwurst, bratwurst, knockwurst, weisswurst, etc.

 

For garlic crumb topping

-2 minced garlic cloves

-1 ½ c fresh bread crumbs, from a baguette

-1 t salt

-1/2 t pepper

-2 T olive oil

-2 T fresh chopped parsley

 

Directions

1.   Remove all skin and fat from duck legs and cut skin and fat into ¼ inch slivers. Separate duck meat from bones, leaving it in large pieces, and transfer meat to a bowl.  Then in the bottom of a large Dutch oven cook the skin and fat until the skin is crispy and the fat is rendered.  Remove skin crackling’s to a separate plate.

2.   Brown sausage in batches in fat in skillet, then transfer to bowl with duck meat, reserving skillet.  When cool cut the sausages into 1 inch pieces.

3.   Transfer beans to the Dutch oven bring to a boil with water, broth, onion, pork shank, confit bones and 2 cloves 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, and 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.

4.   Remove bouquet garni and duck bones from beans and discard, and then stir in sausage, duck meat, remaining salt and 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.)

5.   Sauté all of the topping ingredients in a frying pan until golden and then toss with the crackling’s.

6.   Preheat the oven to 350°F and spread the bread crumb topping evenly over cassoulet and bake, uncovered, in lower third of oven, until bubbling and crust is golden, about 1 hour.