the cooking of the white cassoulet beans

Tea and homemade granola.  A pretty good lunch.  And I am looking at a nap soon.  I think that sums up how I feel today.  A bit tired.  A bit mellow.  Bread is started.  The weather is lovely which means I hope to have some time in the garden with Small Mister today before I cook dinner.  There is skating for me tonight.  Which is another reason for a nap.

But on to the beans for the cassoulet.  The reason I got started on the cassoulet was that I was sent some lovely white cassoulet beans from Rancho Gordo.  We like beans enough that we are part of their year of beans.  I get beans I know we like and I get beans we have not tried.  I think of it as a lovely win.  They sent some heritage cassoulet beans with one of the last boxes.  I had never tried a cassoulet which is what started this whole process.

The beans came together so well for the cassoulet.  They are good enough to eat alone.  I actually stole a couple of scoops for our breakfast the day I made the cassoulet.  So good!  Full of flavor.  I will make these again.

white beans for cassoulet

Note:  adapted from local milk

1 lb white cassolet beans, dried

2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon  thyme

2 bay leaves

5 coriander seeds

a few whole cloves (2-3)

1 medium carrot, chopped

½ a medium onion, chopped

2 small leeks, cleaned and chopped fine

½ head of garlic, peeled and minced

1 tsp  salt 

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ancho pepper

1/4 teaspoon chiplote pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

Rinse and pick over your beans.  In a large pot, put the beans and cover with water by about four inches.  Let soak over night.  The next day, pour off the water.  Rinse.  Put in a slow cooker.  Cover with water.  Cook for 6 to 8 hours on low or until soft and cooked through.

In another large pot, put the oil and heat over medium heat.  Add the onion and leeks.  Let brown.  Add the carrots.  Stir a bit and let soften.  Add the garlic.  Stir.  When the garlic is golden, add the thyme, bay, coriander, cloves, salt, pepper, ancho, chipolte, and paprika.  Add the beans.  Make sure there is enough liquid to cover well.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer.  Let simmer about 45 minutes.  Turn off and let cool.

If you are not making the cassoulet on the same day, store the beans.  Snitch a few for another meal!

confit pork shoulder

Yes, I know this is a picture of flowers and not food.  I cannot find the picture of the confit pork shoulder I made.  I mentioned yesterday that I made cassoulet.  One of the pieces of that was to confit a pork shoulder.  The preparation takes 36 hours and then you wait a month.  That is how I lost the picture.  Or maybe when the computer crashed.

All I know, confit pork shoulder is so yummy you do not need to wait to eat it for a cassoulet but - oh my!  I actually found that true for all the bits of the cassoulet.  Each was worthy to eat by itself.  

confit pork shoulder

Note:  adapted from local milk.  The shoulder sits for 24 hours and cooks for 12 hours so plan enough time

2 pounds boneless pork shoulder cut into 3 inch cubes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

a pinch allspice

a pinch of nutmeg

1 bunch of green onions, sliced 

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 teaspoon thyme

about 1/2 quart melted lard, enough to cover the meat by 1 inch.

Put the pork in a gallon freezer bag.  Mix everything up to the onion together.  Pour over the pork.  Close the bag.  Massage the spices in.  Let sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours

Heat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

Layer the onions, thyme, and garlic in a pot big enough to hold the pork and lard.  Melt the lard.  Layer the pork on top of the onions.  Pour the lard over and make sure it covers by 1 inch.  Put in the oven for 12 hours.

After 12 hours, the pork is very tender.  Strain, reserving the lard.  Place the pork in a container.  Cover with the lard.  Cover by 1 inch.

Let sit in the refrigerator for at least two weeks.  The longer it sits the better it tastes.  You can eat it earlier if you wish.

To eat, rewarm and strain the pork when ready to use.  Save about 1/4 cup of the lard for use in the cassoulet if you end up making that.

This smells so good when baking that it is hard to resist.

mashed sweet potato and apple

I cooked on Sunday.  Almost all day.  Which is really not unusual but I did an actual big meal type deal.  Cassoulet.  It was fun and only took a couple months to put together.  I had to confit duck and pork!  But it so disappeared.  Well, it would have if I had a few more people to feed but I fed the freezer.

This was the side dish.  Mashed sweet potatoes and apples.  I would do this again even without the cassoulet.  Everyone really liked it and by the time I got into the kitchen to put the leftovers away, the pot was empty.  Scraped until the last bit was gone.  That says it was quite good around here!

mashed sweet potato and apple

Note:  adapted from local milk

2 smallish sweet potatoes  (I used jewel), peeled and cut into chunks

2 smallish apples (I think they were fuji but the recipe calls for honey crisp), peeled, cored, and into quarters or eighths

water

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons whole milk goat yogurt (you could use cow or the original recipe calls for creme friache)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

a small pinch cayenne

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (or to taste)

Put the potatoes and apples into a pan that has a lid.  Add about 1 inch water.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down to a simmer.  Let cook about twenty minutes or until both are very soft.

Take off the heat.  Pour off the water.  Add the butter.  Mash.  Add the yogurt, cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne, and sugar.  Mash very well. 

Serve along side the cassoulet I will be writing about.  Or a roast of some type.  

Or just in a bowl.  That way someone is not scraping the pan with a fork.

Tunisian crochet

I crochet.  I do not knit very well and when I do I concentrate on socks but I crochet a lot.  The Purl Soho blog put up a tutorial on Tunisian crochet and I decided to give it a try.  They, of course, suggest fancy yarns.  I picked up some cheap cotton from Joann's.  I did try making a washcloth.  

I would say that I it was not hard.  I would need some new hooks if I to make something bigger.  It is an odd fabric to me but then I have been crocheting for many years.  If I find a pattern I might like to try, I think I would go for it.  But currently, wash cloths are fine.

Our computer is giving us fits.  I may or may not be back on tomorrow.  I hope I got everything backed up because I have put about six hours into design over the last few days.  I am waiting on okays.  Small steps forward and soon my letterpress will be used.  

saturday of design

I set aside this Saturday to work on the computer.  I have a hard time working on the computer on weekends because I spend all day at work on one.  But, I needed to do some design work for business cards for printing.  I need to use my letter press.  The problem with this type of computer work for me is I look up and the whole day has gone by.  I can spend hours just testing different fonts.  Then there is that bit of "That clip art is just not quite right but if I created this or made that wood block or..."  I look up and the day has gone by.

But I got a lot done.  I sent of three different emails with multiple designs.  My Beloved is going to give me the rough draft for some art work and I will work with that for him as well.  I have more ideas for my own business cards.  I may "splurge" for my Beloved and myself and get magnesium plates.  I can see everyone else needing something very different in the future.  We will not for these little bits.

I will say the most exciting bit I had this week was pulling this carrot out of my yard.  I have never been able to grow carrots before because there has been just too much clay.  I have worked very hard for this soil and now I have carrots!  

I also figured out how to roast kale.  With as much kale as we have in the garden, that is very exciting as well.  I put it in with the rest of the vegetables but I migh make chips here soon as well.