The first time I heard of the French dish "casoulet" was from the movie GIGI staring leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan.
In the scene where Gaston comes to visit Gigi and her grandmother, he, who is so rich and could buy any dish he would want, smells the casoulet that Gigis Grand Ma Ma (Hermioni Gingold) is cooking and stays for dinner. She tells him it is only a "poor casoulet". It sounded so good that I was able to have it at a French restaurant and really enjoyed it. I have looked at various reicpes and was not satisfied with any of them and decided to try my own variation. The recipe can contain various meats with beans and vegtables and is another one of the reicipes that was "a poor mans dinner" using leftovers. This traditional dish would now be an expensive dish in a good French Restaurant today. My version below would probably not be considered traditional nor a modern variation but I hope you will enjoy it!
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 qts chicken broth (mix 3 tab of Millers or equivilent
chicken base with 2 qts of boiling water
6 oz of salt pork sliced
5 links of Italian mild sausage (I make my own using
the recipe from my original recipe blog
1/2 duck or if not available, one cornish hen cut into
4 pieces
2 cans of great northern beans with liquid
5 carrots, peeled and cut in half
(optional, 3 tbls capers)
1 lg onion or 2 medium onions, peeled and slice thin
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 can of contadina or equivilent diced tomatoes
8 oz of good red wine
8 oz of Italian style bread crumbs
1 bunch bouquet garni (fresh thyme, 2 bay leaves,
and a small bunch of fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS:
1. preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. put 6 oz of sliced salt pork in 2 qts boiling water for about
ten minutes, remove and cut into small pieces
3. pour a 1/2 cup of virgin olive oil in a large fry pan
over moderate heat.
4. dry the salt pork and fry in the fry pan until the
pieces are slightly browned (set aside)
5. put the sliced onions in the same pan and fry until
the onions are slightly browned then add the smashed
garlic and cook an additonal 10 miunites constantly
stiring so as not to burn the garlic (set aside)
6. fry the sausage in the same pan until browned on
all sides (set aside0
7. brown the cornish hen pieces until browned on all
sides (set aside)
8. return the onions and garlic into the fry pan (optional add 3 tbls capers)
9. add the can of tomatoes and stir with onions/garlic
about ten minutes
10. add the mixed chicken stock and stir into tomatoes
and onion/garlic
11. add the carrots and beans into the vegtables and 2 qts water
stock and and cook them on high heat until they are almost
done and liquid is reduced about a third
12. put all meat and vegtables into a ceramic casserole
pot along with the bouquet garni
13. sprinkle the bread crumbs on top of the dish
and cook for about 2 hrs covered with foil
14. remove the foil and broil until the bread crumbs are
browned, taste for doneness and flavor, and you are
ready to serve
15. will serve 6 to 8 generously (ENJOY)
In the scene where Gaston comes to visit Gigi and her grandmother, he, who is so rich and could buy any dish he would want, smells the casoulet that Gigis Grand Ma Ma (Hermioni Gingold) is cooking and stays for dinner. She tells him it is only a "poor casoulet". It sounded so good that I was able to have it at a French restaurant and really enjoyed it. I have looked at various reicpes and was not satisfied with any of them and decided to try my own variation. The recipe can contain various meats with beans and vegtables and is another one of the reicipes that was "a poor mans dinner" using leftovers. This traditional dish would now be an expensive dish in a good French Restaurant today. My version below would probably not be considered traditional nor a modern variation but I hope you will enjoy it!
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 qts chicken broth (mix 3 tab of Millers or equivilent
chicken base with 2 qts of boiling water
6 oz of salt pork sliced
5 links of Italian mild sausage (I make my own using
the recipe from my original recipe blog
1/2 duck or if not available, one cornish hen cut into
4 pieces
2 cans of great northern beans with liquid
5 carrots, peeled and cut in half
(optional, 3 tbls capers)
1 lg onion or 2 medium onions, peeled and slice thin
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 can of contadina or equivilent diced tomatoes
8 oz of good red wine
8 oz of Italian style bread crumbs
1 bunch bouquet garni (fresh thyme, 2 bay leaves,
and a small bunch of fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS:
1. preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. put 6 oz of sliced salt pork in 2 qts boiling water for about
ten minutes, remove and cut into small pieces
3. pour a 1/2 cup of virgin olive oil in a large fry pan
over moderate heat.
4. dry the salt pork and fry in the fry pan until the
pieces are slightly browned (set aside)
5. put the sliced onions in the same pan and fry until
the onions are slightly browned then add the smashed
garlic and cook an additonal 10 miunites constantly
stiring so as not to burn the garlic (set aside)
6. fry the sausage in the same pan until browned on
all sides (set aside0
7. brown the cornish hen pieces until browned on all
sides (set aside)
8. return the onions and garlic into the fry pan (optional add 3 tbls capers)
9. add the can of tomatoes and stir with onions/garlic
about ten minutes
10. add the mixed chicken stock and stir into tomatoes
and onion/garlic
11. add the carrots and beans into the vegtables and 2 qts water
stock and and cook them on high heat until they are almost
done and liquid is reduced about a third
12. put all meat and vegtables into a ceramic casserole
pot along with the bouquet garni
13. sprinkle the bread crumbs on top of the dish
and cook for about 2 hrs covered with foil
14. remove the foil and broil until the bread crumbs are
browned, taste for doneness and flavor, and you are
ready to serve
15. will serve 6 to 8 generously (ENJOY)
No comments:
Post a Comment