Updated: We now of course grow our own Cassoulet beans here in California from heirloom French Tarbais seed.
I mentioned making this in the Rancho Gordo newsletter but I thought it should also make an appearance here. I love flageolet beans a lot and often have to justify them to Francophiles who insist that a cassoulet must be made with heirloom Tarbais beans. I don’t know of any domestic grower of Tarbais and they’re hard to come by. My LaRousse Gastronomique just calls for dry white beans while others call for Haricot de Castelnaudery specifically. What to do? Maybe relax a little, I’d say! I’d worry more about the correct sausages or good duck confit.
After reading several recipes, I experimented and took the confit I had from The Fatted Calf and put the skin on the bottom of my clay gratin. I then added a layer of cooked flageolet, followed by the shredded meat of the confit, then another layer of beans and the whole mess is topped off with bread crumbs. This went into the oven at 350F for about 45 minutes and developed a nice crust.
I would never pass this off as authentic or even French but readers, it was out of this world! I can’t wait to experiment more with this bean gratin idea. It would make an ideal side dish or work on its own with a salad. Jill Nussinow, author of The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment likes sun-dried tomatoes and thyme with her flageolet. You could easily skip the duck and try Jill’s version instead, just try it with bread crumbs and then report back.
Coincidentally, I made a not-quite cassoulet about a week ago using your barlotti beans, homemade duck confit, homemade duck broth, and a smoked ham hock (the butcher didn’t have fresh).
I rendered a small amount of diced bacon, sautéed some onions, then added duck broth, dry beans, the rind from a chunk of parmesan, and the ham hock and simmered for couple of hours. I added in the confit for the last half hour, then removed and chopped up the meat and fished out the parmesan. To finish, I sprinkled with bread crumbs, transferred it to a 250 degree oven for 4 hours, breaking the crust every hour or so.
I was quite happy with the results, and will definitely try something similar again.
With a lot of your recipes you mention using lard. Where do you get it? I live in the Seattle area, but I thought maybe you might have some tips for finding it.