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| Cassoulet |
First soak 2 pounds of rinsed beans in water to cover overnight (along with 2 tsp. of baking soda). The following morning, drain and rinse.
In a pot on the stove, add rinsed beans and cover with 1-inch of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a high simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Watch the pot and skim off any foam. Turn the burner off, put the cover on the pot, and prepare the rest of the casserole.
Preheat oven to 350f.
Brown 3 pounds of sausage (I had goat, pork, moose) and place in a very large casserole. I also poached a pound of skinless goose breast (shot in the cornfield out back of the house) in white wine and onions for ten minutes, then covered it and set it aside to cool.
Slice one large onion thinly, saute it in the same pan the sausages were browned in. Put a good slosh of white wine into the pan to deglaze it, scraping up all the bits and add it all to the casserole. Shred or cube the goose breast and add to the pot along with the strained poaching liquid. Drain the beans and add them to the pot.
Cover the beans and meat by about an inch of stock (2 quarts pork or chicken). Place in the oven without a cover.
The casserole should be bubbling and the beans cooked through in about one hour. I made this a few days ahead of time, added a cup of breadcrumbs to the top, and reheated in a 300f oven for about 40 minutes.
You'll notice there was no salt added - I tasted the dish and decided that it did not need any additional seasoning.
