Cassoulet, the comfort of comfort foods is on its way!!

Cassoulet has to be the comfort of comfort foods, white beans, duck confit, sausage & smoked hog hawks slowly cooked in an earthware pot for hours melding with all the wonderful flavors of thyme, oregano, carrot, celery, white wine with just a hint of the juices from the stock pot and a slight smash of fresh tomato. Simple yet filled with complex flavors that warm the soul to the core of ones very being leaving you satisfied yet yearning for just one more taste to confirm the depth of those very flavors.
Even at the fact this recipe is simple, it is time consuming from scatch. I will share this recipe over a few posts then I will offer up a quick cassoulet recipe. As a chef the time it takes to prepare Cassoulet is well worth the wonders of its reception, an expression of emotions, if you will.
I will return with step one of Cassoulet beginning the next post, until then Think Good Thoughts & Smile.
What about the Giants victory? In a word AWESOME!!!!

Duck Confit, a must do before Cassoulet!!

Before I share the Cassoulet recipe I realized that first I must share the Duck Confit recipe .  What is confit? Confit is a generic term for various kinds of food that have been immersed in a substance for both flavour and preservation. Depending on where you are constitutes how something is turned to confit, usually it is the fat of which you are making confit but in some areas Olive Oil is used, my recipe for Duck Confit uses both Duck Fat and Olive Oil from Provence.
Ducks carry a lot of fat which when cooked or grilled renders away from the meat of the bird, I only Confit the Leg & Thigh, the breasts I separate from the rest of the carcass as I do the leg & thigh then I pull the rest of the skin off and cook it as I sear the leg and thigh to render the fat.
Before any of that happens I lightly season the Leg & Thigh with cracked pepper, very little sea salt and garlic powder. To confit just a couple of legs&thighs really is not worth it, there are a couple of store bought confits that are of good quality. Generally I will Confit 12 or more ducks which means I have 24 leg & thighs that takes about 1 gallon of fat. This is where the Olive Oil comes into the recipe or application. As the legs and thighs are searing begin heating the duck fat over low heat adding olive oil, the combination is about 3-1 ratio of duck fat to oil. Now that all the leg and thighs are seared (not cooked) completely submerge the leg & thighs into the warm oil. As you are doing so preheat your oven to 200 degrees, bring your fat and oil to 200 degrees cover and into the oven it goes, here is where you will need to be prepared to be around for 8 hours, it is not wise to leave an oven unattended, especially when one is slow cooking with fat. Did I say 8 hours? Yes allow the duck to slow roast in the fat for 8 hours, once the 8 hours has passed remove from oven and allow to cool to room temp. The contents are now confit and can be stored in the refrigerator for months. You can remove the leg & thighs from the fat, fresh or vac pack and freeze until ready to use. I will be back with what to do with the Duck Confit prior to using it in a dish such as Cassoulet.
Until then "Think Good Thoughts and Smile"

No title, just some facts.........

Cassoulets, stews & soups, three things I look forward to with the beginning of fall. Not that they are only fall and winter foods, a good cassoulet is enjoyed anytime,spring and summer sing with gazpacho and chilled soups but I gotta tell you cassoulet is the comfort of comfort foods for me. I am saddened by the way many chefs have bastardized this great classic calling what should be a casserole a cassoulet. The classic was in fact a peasant dish of white beans, rabbit, duck, partridge and game that would sometimes be cooking for months, yes I said months by continuously adding ingredients and keeping the pot cooking so to speak. Depending on the region would constitute the ingredients such as pork, duck and partridge but one thing can be said for certain, White Beans cooked very slowly. Traditionally this flavorful pot of goodness would be topped with fried bread, duck cracklings or pork cracklings, this has been replaced in many recipes with puff pastry. I said many chefs bastardize this great classic, allow me to qualify this, what I mean is they use the term "Cassoulet" very loosely, sure every recipe has variations in fact I encourage taking a recipe and adding you own twist to it such as different herbs or substituting chicken for duck, you get where I am going with this, changing the base from white beans and calling a dish cassoulete should be punishable by law such as using  black beans and calling it Black Bean Cassoulet, please......
As you can see I am on one again so I will be back with my Cassoulet Recipe that is just that, "Cassoulet."
Until then Think Good Thoughts & Smile....

Warmed Brussels Sprout & Blueberry Slaw!!

Brussels Sprouts, in a word nutritious, in two words nutritiously delicious. This application is very simple and can be served as a side or even a main by adding a protein. So let us get to it..........

Ingredients

4 cups chiffonade Brussels sprouts
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp brunoise of red pepper
2 tbsp brunoise of leek
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
Sea Salt & Fresh cracked Black and White Pepper

In a mixing bowl combine all except the olive oil , toss a few times while your large saute pan is heating over med-high heat. Add olive oil to pan then add the Brussels sprout mixture, turn heat to med, toss until warmed but not cooked, about two mins. S&P to taste, serve immediately.
This works so well with game and game birds or just about anything that has a smoky grilled taste. I have even stuffed fresh trout with the slaw, remember that recipes are only guidelines for you to develop off of, create to your own taste by adding, seasoning or general experimentation to recipes, you might just be surprised at the outcome.
I'll be back, until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile".

Recipe, Quail Brined in Beer and wrapped in bacon!!

I recently read an account by an Italian Chef who is not famous or well known in this country, in the article he spoke of keeping ingredients to a minimum, maybe 3 or 4 max. This is something I believe and have modeled my style of cooking after for many years. If one looks at worldly cuisine with open eyes one will see some of the tastiest are one, two or three ingredient dishes. If we take it to methodology of cooking something such as over an open fire or in a wood fired oven things get a bit more complex only in the fact woods burn differently and most certainly the taste of the smoke. Here in America we are lazy when it comes to the fires we cook over, Kingsford anyone? or where is the Mesquite? or grab me a beer while I am turning on the gas! my favorite is where is the lighter fluid? Yes my friends even I have fallen to the for mentioned more than once, but the truth is we should take time preparing the method in which we will be cooking, in this case Grilled Quail wrapped in Bacon.. A few posts ago I wrote of adding herbs to the fire, herb smoking if you will and in this case the herb will be Sage but first to the fire. OAK, White or Cork Oak to be exact is perfect to cook these little jewels of deliciousness over. Even though burning a piece of wood until it turns to coals takes time it well worth it plus the flavor it adds is a seasoning in itself. Onto the recipe.....
Your choice to bone the little birds, I do only because it makes things easier and not messy but remember cooking next to the bone adds flavor as well. Brine, very simple:

2 12oz bottle Oktoberfest Bier (spatan)
16 oz water
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tbsp Sea Salt
1 tbsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in stock pot, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, allow to simmer for 15 minutes to ensure all solids have incorporated, allow to cool for 2 hours, do not want to poach the birds. Once cool place the quail in the liquid mixture and allow them to soak for 4-8 hours. remove quail, pat dry and wrap with a good apple wood uncured bacon, dust lightly with smoked paprika and a bit of cracked pepper, grill indirect heat turning the quail a couple of times until golden which takes about 15 mins.
Simple and out of the park tasty. I will be back to share the Brussels Sprout and Blueberry warmed slaw that I serve with the Quail, Until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile"..........