Whole-Duck Cassoulet
- Total Time
- 4 to 5 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4cups dried white beans
- ½pound not-too-smoky slab bacon
- Small bunch fresh parsley, leaves chopped, stems saved
- 10sprigs fresh thyme
- 2bay leaves
- 1teaspoon whole cloves
- Salt and black pepper
- 1pound boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
- Reserved fat, as needed
- 2medium onions, sliced
- Duck confit
- 8garlic cloves, peeled
- 2cups duck stock, plus more as needed
- 4cups chopped tomatoes
- 1tablespoon chopped garlic
- ¼teaspoon cayenne
- ½pound garlicky sausage, preferably in one piece
- 1cup bread crumbs
- 2boneless duck breasts.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil in a large saucepan and add the beans. Remove from heat and let soak for 1 hour.
- Step 2
Cut the bacon slab into 4 large chunks and cover in water in another saucepan; turn the heat to medium, and when the water boils, turn it down to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes.
- Step 3
Make a bouquet garni by combining the parsley stems, thyme, bay leaves and whole cloves in a piece of cheesecloth and tying it into a bundle. (I never use cheesecloth myself but turn to my old tea ball, which is around for only this purpose.) Add it, along with the bacon, to the beans; bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook, skimming occasionally, until the beans are just tender, 45 to 90 minutes. (Add water if necessary; ideally the beans will be moist but not swimming when they're done.) Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
- Step 4
Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper. Put 3 tablespoons reserved duck fat in a large pot over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add the lamb and brown the pieces well. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 or 6 minutes; turn off heat.
- Step 5
Remove the duck confit from the refrigerator and scrape off the fat; debone and shred the meat. Add the meat and garlic cloves to the pot with the lamb, along with 2 cups duck stock, tomatoes, chopped garlic and cayenne. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer; cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is very tender, 1 to 1.5 hours. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
- Step 6
When you're ready to assemble the cassoulet, discard the bouquet garni. Cut the fat from the meat and cut the meat into small pieces.
- Step 7
Heat 2 tablespoons reserved duck fat in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add the sausage and cook, turning as necessary until well browned; transfer to a cutting board and slice into quarter-inch rounds; don’t wash out the pan.
- Step 8
Heat the oven to 375. Transfer a layer of beans to a large enameled cast-iron pot with a slotted spoon to leave behind most of the cooking liquid. Layer half of the sausage and bacon on top, then another layer of beans, then half the duck-and-lamb mixture; repeat the layers until you have used all the beans and meat.
- Step 9
Put the pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer, uncovered, then turn off heat. Cover with bread crumbs and chopped parsley leaves and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
- Step 10
While the cassoulet is in the oven, put the skillet used for cooking the sausage over medium-high heat. When it's hot, cook the duck breasts, skin-side down, until they release easily from the pan, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn and cook to rare, just another minute or 2. Remove the duck from the pan with a slotted spoon and pour the drippings from the pan over the cassoulet; reduce oven heat to 350.
- Step 11
Bake the cassoulet until it’s hot, bubbling and crusted around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes; add a little duck stock if it starts to look too dry. Slice the duck breasts on the diagonal and transfer them to the pot, tucking them into the bread crumbs. Cook until the breasts are medium rare, another 5 minutes or so, then serve.
Private Notes
Comments
In honor of Mark's last day at the New York Times, we are making this cassoulet, one of our all-time favorite recipes. We will miss you, Mark. Thanks for the many, many great meals.
The final product was excellent, but this is the single most poorly organized and presented recipe in the many dozens on NY Times cooking that I have prepared. Most glaringly, this recipe above "Whole-Duck Cassoulet" lists 4-5 hours, but you can't start this recipe until you've completed the prior recipes to make the duck stock and confit. And for that, you start at least 24 hours earlier. Allow >6 hours of kitchen working time, and 30 hours overnight for it all. And, buy extra duck fat.
Used duck breasts, duck bacon, duck stock, confit, a spicy duck sausage, white beans and black eyed beans, diced tomatoes with chilies. Saute the meats, deglaze the pan add all to the casserole bake 350 for 3 hrs. Served with fresh baguette and simple green salad.
Kept breadcrumbs crispy by frying them in duck fat, draining, then salting and adding chopped parsley. Passed separately.
Instructions on dealing with beans a little sketchy and way too many cloves. Other than that a fabulous recipe. The succulent duck breasts cooked somewhat rare at the end are the proverbial icing on the cake. Delicious.
I’ve made as written multiple times and it is worth the effort. But this is also a great base recipe to adapt to what’s on hard. My wife and I like roast duck but usually have some meat leftover. I make duck stock from carcass and meat, browning vegetables and duck neck in fat from roasting pan. Used last 2 strips of bacon for slab. I substituted ham cubes for lamb but still followed recipe for seasoning and spicing and used duck meat for confit. Used Portuguese chourico for sausage. Excellent!
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