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Update on D'artagnan Berkshire Pork Belly/ Cassoulet

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    Update on D'artagnan Berkshire Pork Belly/ Cassoulet

    So, the spare ribs I cut off the D'artagnan Berkshire belly were great! The cassoulet...well, it was VERY rich and tasty, in a bland sort of way. Without giving recipe specific details, Bourdain's cassoulet recipe calls for a three day process: Day one, soak the beans. Day two, cook the beans with a two pound slab of pork belly until the beans are cooked. Then, cover the bottom of a LARGE casserole pot--I used a 12" X 5.5" Le Creuset--with raw pork skin (sadly, the skin showed nipples--aawww...), then layer the pot with beans, large chunks of the previously boiled belly, more beans, sausages (thankfully browned first!), beans, duck confit (leg/thigh quarters--skin on), more beans, then cover with the bean cooking liquid, then oven cook for a couple of hours, chill and refrigerate overnight. Day three, cook for a couple more hours before serving.

    Disappointingly, the fabled crust never developed, I think due to the large amount of liquid fat on the surface of the pot. I skimmed most of it off on the third day, but still no crust. My improvement ideas going forward (it'll be a while before I attempt this again): 1) use slab bacon (I've got two three-pound slabs of Meathead's bacon curing from the remaining belly) in place of raw, then boiled, pork belly, 2) fry the bacon after cutting it into 0.5 inch cubes, 3) if using duck confit, remove the skin, and, 4) generally minimize fat content in the final dish.

    It's worth doing again, though I will make the changes I suggested above.

    fzxdoc, W.A. Sorry, no pix. It looks like any everyday pot of beans.

    Edit Add-On I'd also get rid of the pork skin lining the bottom of the pot.

    Really, this dish is just a French version of beanie wienies (with better wienies) and it did start out as peasant food.
    Last edited by Willy; May 30, 2018, 04:34 PM.

    #2
    Dang, I hate when we do so much work for meh results.

    Comment


    • EdF
      EdF commented
      Editing a comment
      'Course, it does make those other results seem even better!

    • Willy
      Willy commented
      Editing a comment
      It was better than "meh", but not great. I think my ideas will improve it TO MY TASTES. Meanwhile, based on Bourdain's whole book, it seems like so many classic "bistro"/brasserie" French foods get boiled. OTOH, his steak tartare is to die for.

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