"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Kent" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>I made this tonight using the recipe at allrecipes.com. It got very
>>>mixed reviews. Most people really seemed to love it but a few felt there
>>>wasn't enough flavor. Some people said to add a bit of sugar or wine.
>>>Because I had 6 ounces more smoked sausage than what was called for, I
>>>added more veggies, more seasonings and another can of beans which were
>>>pinto because that was all I had that didn't have other seasonings added,
>>>like cumin. I added a couple of squirts of ketchup, thinking this would
>>>add to the flavor and then perhaps mistakenly added a few more squirts.
>>>Perhaps I should have added a bit of tomato sauce or paste instead. The
>>>overall end flavor was too ketchupy I think.
>>>
>>> Everybody ate it and nobody complained. Daughter and I felt it was
>>> okay. Probably not something I will make again. But I had a smoked
>>> sausage that I wanted to use up and I had quite a few cans of beans that
>>> were just sitting there. So I thought I would give it a shot.
>>>
>>> Oddly it was made entirely on top of the stove. And because all of the
>>> liquids were drained off, I felt it needed a bit of a sauce. Which is
>>> why I put in the ketchup. It did make a filling meal. I will say that.
>>>
>> Which cassoulet recipe from allrecipies.com did you use? There's quite a
>> large number on that site.
>>
>> Kent
>
> As I said... The quick one. I think there was only the one.
>
> http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-c...et/detail.aspx
>
This recipe appears to be almost a copy of S & W Beans Cassolet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POozZbnqoGY Watch it. It's kind of fun.

Neither of the recipes are close in any way to Cassoulet of southwest
France, even though the Cassoulet can have variable meats, at least to some
degree.

All are made with dry white beans, the haricot or lingot in France, and the
canollini in the U.S. Bread crumbs are mandatory. In the U.S. it almost
always has duck confit and duck fat. In France it usually has goose fat, but
not necessarily goose meat.

Making a confit of duck is an effort. I'm going to make a confit with 12
duck legs to get the two of us through the winter. Then I'll have a supply
of fat and confit for the dish, making it much easier several times, several
different ways.

As I recently posted, Michael Wild, owner-chef of a great Alsatian
restaurant in Oakland, CA does cassoulet each winter. He had one at lunch
last year where he used ham hock instead of confit of duck. All else was the
same. The result was really excellent, with fairly low effort. The ham
variation is not in his cookbook.
http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Restauran.../dp/1580082602
Check your local library for this. It's very good, and a good read.

Kent