Kate’s Camp Cassoulet Comes to Lauzerte
The weather has become cooler, the leaves have changed color, the tourists have disappeared and it is time to turn our thoughts to......cassoulet. This rich dish of beans, sausage, and duck baked in the oven to a luscious, crusty gold is the signature dish of Southwest France. And for all things cassoulet, one has to turn to Kate Hill whose French Kitchen Adventures have included organizing seasonal cassoulet camps both here and abroad (even in New Zealand!)
All I had to do was provide the kitchen and a dining table for 14 lucky guests (it takes a village to eat a cassoulet) while Kate arrived with the fixings. You need several things for a successful cassoulet:
the right ingredients to make a rich stock for the beans.....
....grilled meat.....
...... helpers to chop.....
...and Kate to assemble it all in two grande cassole dishes,
After the cassoles go into the oven, the rest of us just need patience and a lot of aperitifs. When the guests and cassoulet finally reach the table, the excitement and hunger are evident.....
The results are sublime....
..especially when paired with the black wine of Cahors.
Best of all, there were leftovers and Bosco’s hopes may not have been in vain.
After cassoulet, the only sane dessert is sorbet and I managed to churn out three well-received flavors (blackberry, pear, and apple-ginger) thanks to the recipes in David Lebovitz and Lara Hata’s Perfect Scoop.
Orr d’oeuvres
Monday, November 10, 2008
