This is where the meat dishes go
and just like a dog owned by Pavlov, I see steak == my mouth waters with anticipation. On this American holiday, we are having steak-frites.
Tomorrow will be spent running around town collecting random turkey parts to assemble for our Thanksgiving Day-after-after dinner. But more on that later …
With three more hours of cooking to go, we couldn’t wait. Lunch was approaching fast and I had no alternate plans other than rye bread with “brique” ( I suppose it could have been worse. The Brique de Vache is quite tasty and incredibly filling ).
When I first experienced cassoulet, it was rolled on its very own rolling cart and served to my husband. He ate as much as he could ( cassoulet is a bit moreish ), but still there was plenty leftover. There’s not a bean dish I know that makes an entrance with such pizazz.
It’s not like I’ve been slaving over this dish in the kitchen. It takes care of itself. All cassoulet needs is time. The “hour in” tasting was good, but 1) a little fatty 2) needs more time to become friends ( I’d say the participants are still in the drinks phase )
That fat was scooped out a bit and the temperature lowered for the remaining two or three hours.
It’s not a lot of work, but might seem a bit overkill for French Beans-N-Weenies. But the absolute warm you feel when you eat it is no match, it ain’t the same league, it ain’t even the same f-in sport as anything produced by Heinz.
I literally said this to my sister Laura ( the one who taught me the cream sauce ):
” Hey, yeah, I’ll be over soon, I’m just going to wax my car real quick.”
She hung up the phone and probably arranged and set off on a trip to the Oregon Coast, bought some saltwater taffy, ate a bowl of chowder and then returned with enough time to watch the evening news because she knew that I’d be a while.
This is Cassoulet. You think that with all the prebrowning, the pre-confit-ing and skipping the dried beans step by using canned that you could start at four and serve at six-thirty, but sadly for you, you are wrong. Even with your shortcuts, the dish needs an overnight stay in the cool fridge of love that makes flavor happen. You need time ( and a dash of thyme as it so happens ).
When you live in Southwest France, duck is plentiful and pork is cheap. This sets the stage for Cassoulet.
Don’t worry, in the meantime we fed the troops a Butter Chicken I’ve done in the past and quickly pulled together. And it is a small coincidence that Butter Chicken and Cassoulet are but a nub of ginger away from being equally belly warming. Both require this onion-garlic paste dealio.
Oh gooby, googie sausage, how I love thee especially when you are layered with your beany ducky friends.
After your layers of yum, cover with beans and let it gurgle and bubble for an hour.
Then another hour or so at a lower heat. Then, overnight in the fridge. Then cook the next day for an hour. And THEN … Taste and see if it’s ready. Cassoulet is so worth the time and effort. Don’t be fooled by the tin. Live a little, Make it from scratch.
The confit has surfaced from its little retreat at flavor camp. And it came out … Delicious! Okay, so you stick duck bits in a vat of hot fat and fah-git about it. Not hard, but you need to be patient. You need to have the time ( and a hefty glass of wine ). You need to love duck. This is my third time with duck confit and this is what it takes:
Ducky bits, legs and/or machons
Thyme
Bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
Salt and pepper over night
The next day you can rinse or not rinse
Stick in a big pot and cover with duck fat for an hour or two or so I don’t even remember how long these beauties bubbled
You can stick it in a jar if you wish. I stuck my big vat in the fridge then, a week or so later, I heated it up enough to pull some out for dinner and shoved the rest in a bag. They sell confit in bags around here. I like to do like they do. I’m not certain how long it lasts in a bag, therefore I recommend you eat it in the best way you know how.
Sausage meaty balls tonight. A Nigel Slater recipe that keeps on giving. ( from his book Appetite ).
I usually do the lemongrass version, but tonight we do European porky balls. What you see above is:
Pork en vrac ( crap, what’s that in ‘merican. Loose? Just like my men )
Thyme
Garlic
Comte
Naturally and usually I fry these balls in lard. As I lost all my lard, I would usually turn to duck fat, but I’m mad at duck fat. So I used some tallow. We run a beef farm and tallow is something I need to acquaint myself with.
Porky yum balls were served with broth ‘n’ parsley and some mash ( because there’s no way my kids are sticking meatballs in broth, but let me tell you this: meatballs of the pork variety are absolutely lovely in broth
with fresh parsley. That is all. ).
There was a time in my life when I used to flip through cookbooks searching for yummy stuff to make. I would go with a feeling or an urge. Then I’d construct the shopping list and off I’d go. But this is not the way it works when you’re living, breathing and running a farm. Ingredients fall upon you ( big zucchini, odd beef cuts, foie gras trades … ) and you are left with a task. “What do I do with a few kilos if very ripe tomatoes?” Or “Wow fifteen kilos of beef to grind and process. Where do I go from here?”
When it comes to short ribs and you are in France, you make Pot-au-Feu. Or as we affectionately call it “Faux Pho.” These short ribs are called “Plat de Cotes” ( there’s a little hat on the ‘o’ … still working out iPhone symbols ).
Now I could totally Faux Pho the lot, but I thought I’d Gangnam Syle some of them ribs because that’s how we roll. I found this Korean Short Rib recipe that looked too good to refuse. Progress is smelling divine, we’ll see how it tastes.
As a side note, part of Gangnam Style Ribs is a browning phase. If you are not living in France you will not appreciate the next photo, but trust me, I browned meat – our meat – and I think I shed a little, happy tear of success. Our beef, you can brown it! So let me present to you, browned beef:
All my amazing fans … Okay, all my number one dedicated fans … Okay, my husband was interested in what the heck Kheema was for. To this, I celebrate my fan base and say that Kheema is “Indian Bolognese.”
Most scrumpciously, you stick that stuffing in Samosas or serve family style with ciapati. With that ginger and that cinnamon and that dedicated love, Kheema knows no boundaries.
Of course my favorite Bollywood star turn amazing Indian chef recommends veg oil. I use Charming pig dripping. And duck fat ( have I mentioned that I have a lot of duck fat? ) to fry the lovely parcels in.
I’ve done Kheema many times, but this is the first time I’ve popped them in fatty, floury parcels and deep fried them. They turned out pretty tasty. I think a little sauce might be in order. I still have a pile of Kheema leftover that I’ll stick in the freezer for future inspiration.
Two big bags of stew meaty Gordito have been thawed and ground ( yes and thank you lovely hubby for getting all the meat grinder bits sorted out ). I love stew meat and all its stew meaty yumminess, but sometimes you need to grind that meat for some warm winter meals to feed an army.
We found homes for some kilos, but with the remaining mince ( it’s so fun to use the word mince ), I plan to do this:
Chili
Shepherd’s Pie ( base )
Kheema
Cooky Beefy Bits with Potential ( and not the kind of potential that sits in the corner like a little kitten mewing ).
The chili is on and just about done. The Shepherd’s Pie is rolling. If my giant, American mug of coffee I had at four o’clock holds out, the Kheema should get a chance to live in our freezer for future meals. Should the Madiran take hold, I believe we’ll have browned beef with no name.
I was thinking pork fried rice, but with my leftover boiled sausage broth and in need of a quick dinner for the family, I went with Risotto. Otto loves this because it’s HIS rice.
We served with the lovely, tasty Noir de Bigorre. So far, so good …
This is a very tasty, local black pig called Le Noir de Bigorre. Oh and it really is tasty, but oh so fatty. The meat makes American pork taste like chicken ( the other white meat ). If you will, check out that fat layer.
Too much fat for my modest roast pan, I cut the skin off for future crackling and trim the fat for future lard ( read pie crusts ).
After a soothing olive oil, thyme, crushed garlic, salt and pepper massage, stick it in a low heated oven for an hour or two. We served with mashed pots and juicy, oven roasted mushies. And onion gravy … I’m all about onion gravy at the moment.
Girl On Grill Action 