We were out at the weekend and decided to cook a big pot of Cassoulet - basically a thick, hearty stew in the French style, containing lots of meat!
To begin with, all the meat is browned and set aside. The skin from the duck legs was rendered to provide the cooking fat and then the legs were browned.
Belly pork next.
Followed by neck of lamb.
Some thick Toulouse sausage (ignore the finger nails, hygiene fans!
)
That's all the meat.
Now the vegetables; carrot, celery, onion and garlic.
Followed by a can of tomatoes, some tomato purée, white wine and a bouquet garni. We cheated and used tins of beans.
All of the meat then goes back in and the lid goes on. Just.
This was simmered for three hours or so. Then the lid was removed to reduce the sauce a little.
The final part is to add breadcrumbs to the top in a couple of stages and brown the top.
The lip around the edge of the lid holds the coals on the top.
All done. Next time we'll take it off the fire for the final grilling process, as once some of the liquid was absorbed it burnt a little at the bottom and around the edge. Oh well. You live and learn. It was very tasty though.
To begin with, all the meat is browned and set aside. The skin from the duck legs was rendered to provide the cooking fat and then the legs were browned.
Belly pork next.
Followed by neck of lamb.
Some thick Toulouse sausage (ignore the finger nails, hygiene fans!
)
That's all the meat.
Now the vegetables; carrot, celery, onion and garlic.
Followed by a can of tomatoes, some tomato purée, white wine and a bouquet garni. We cheated and used tins of beans.
All of the meat then goes back in and the lid goes on. Just.
This was simmered for three hours or so. Then the lid was removed to reduce the sauce a little.
The final part is to add breadcrumbs to the top in a couple of stages and brown the top.
The lip around the edge of the lid holds the coals on the top.
All done. Next time we'll take it off the fire for the final grilling process, as once some of the liquid was absorbed it burnt a little at the bottom and around the edge. Oh well. You live and learn. It was very tasty though.
