Another cassoulet!



I love making variations on a traditional cassoulet. This one used duck confit, merguez sausage, white beans, and organic garlic, onion, carrots and canned, crushed tomatoes.

Sadly, the confit didn't end up turning out as well as I'd have liked; I followed this recipe for duck confit again (I've made it about three times now) and can say — definitively — that it cures the meat before it's cooked. The end result is a surprisingly tough — not meltingly smooth — meat. I'm probably going to use up the duck fat reserves I've been keeping on-hand on things like potatoes, instead.

The good news is that the beans and carrots are perfectly cooked: tender, not-underdone, but not mushy. The sausage adds a headier "aroma" to this dish than usual, but I like it.

Overall, this is a good, hearty casserole for mid-winter, but I haven't quite perfected it yet.