Skip to main content

Project Cassoulet - The Beans










My beans overflow

Step 2 of the Cassoulet is the beans. This is pretty straight forward. You soak the beans overnight, throw in some ingredients, and cook until tender.

I could not find the suggested Tarbais or corona beans. I went with the other option - cannellini beans. The trickiest part to remember was to keep the liquid from the beans (I needed about half of the liquid). Since I was making the pork ragu the next day this was key to remember. Also, the pot I soaked them in overnight was way too small. 

It is important to leave the beans a little firm and not to cook them to mushy. As they cook for an additional two hours, they turn soft and if you started out with very soft beans, I think they would fall apart.  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

I appreciate your comments!

Popular posts from this blog

New Kid on the Block

So here's a picture of the new kid on the block. Ain't she a beauty? It's a Blomberg . They are fairly new to the US. They have been around in Europe for quite a while. I really liked the design. I've been dying to have a freezer on the bottom. With the old refrigerator I would constantly lose brain cells by hitting my head on the freezer will poking around in the refrigerator. It really makes sense to have the refrigerator on top - that is where you spend most of your time. When we bought the old one, it was an emergency situation. The prior one was leaking on the floor and was no longer cooling. Fifteen years ago the freezer on the bottom was just starting to get popular but we were in no situation to wait for delivery. We had to take what they had on hand. Now the freezer on the bottom is by no means unique. What is - is this freezer's design. There are 3 compartments in the freezer. I used to have a chest freezer in the basement and everything would get los...
2 comments
Read more

Mr. Boston

Since we were discussing cocktails, I thought I would discuss Mr. Boston . The Sous Chef has his father's Mr. Boston and then the girls one year for Christmas got him the new version.  They are different enough that you need to keep both of them. We had once thought about working our way through the book but then decided that probably wasn't a good idea.  We have found some really tasty treats though. Old Mr. Boston/New Mr. Boston Here is one of them: Banana Foster (from New Mr. Boston) 2 scoops vanilla ice cream 1 1/2 oz spiced rum 1/2 oz banana liqueur 1 medium banana cinnamon Combine ingredients in blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into a large glass and sprinkle with cinnamon I guess there is one improvement with the new Mr. Boston - the index is a bit better. In the old version, you cannot look up the drink by name. You can only look it up by liquor - which doesn't really help you out if you don't know what is in say a grasshopper and just wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Almond & Jam Tarts

These are quite impressive looking but very easy to make - especially if you buy ground almonds. The really nice part is that you just press the dough into the tart pans. The only rolling is for the cut outs. Peach Jam Currant Jam Almond & Jam Tarts (Adapted from Bon Appetit ) Makes 2 tarts 7 oz (approx 2 cups) Ground Almonds or Hazelnuts* 4 1/2 c flour 2 1/4 t kosher salt 1 1/2 t baking powder 2 t nutmeg 1 1/2 c sugar 3 sticks butter 6 T heavy cream 3 egg yolks 1 t almond extract 1 Earl Grey tea bag 1 1/2 c apricot jam** 1 1/2 c plum jam** 2 t orange zest 1 egg 1/4 c raw sugar Mix almonds, flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg yolks, cream, and almond extract. Mix well. Gradually add flour/almond mixture and mix until combined. Divide dough into 3 equal parts, flatten 1 into disk and chill for at least 1 hour. Press the remaining two doughs into tart pans cover and chill....
Post a Comment
Read more