Amy Scattergood's Quick Cassoulet

I cannot, for the life of me, stand the sight of turkey any more. We were meant to take a Tupperware packed with shreds of it home with us when we left Beacon yesterday, but forgot it in the fridge. Honestly, it was a relief. I think I've come quite far in battling my aversion to leftovers, but progress has its limits. Four meals in a row is plenty, wouldn't you say?

But in case you aren't entirely over turkey yourself yet, or if you'd like to know the best way I transformed leftovers into a new meal, this post is for you. It was my turn at lunchtime on Saturday to make a meal for the assembled members of Ben's family gathered upstate to celebrate Thanksgiving. I'd had this recipe from Amy knocking around in my files for years, faithfully toting it with me each year to Thanksgiving, but never actually using it. Finally, this year, the recipe had its star turn.

Well, a version of it anyway. If Amy calls this Quick Cassoulet, then I'll call what I did on Saturday Speediest Cassoulet. Or Cassoulet Vite Vite, perhaps. Any suggestions? Instead of starting with dried beans, I bought canned beans (pinto, because I love them, but Amy says you should use cannellini or Great Northern). Instead of uncooked sausage, I used cooked chicken sausage, because it's all we had in the fridge. I used more tomatoes and less chicken stock than she did and I cut a bit off the time here and there.

What resulted was lovely: a garlicky, juicy stew that filled the house with Mediterranean fragrances, most welcome after a few days of Puritan cooking. The velvety beans, bright tomatoes, and aromatic herbs livened up the turkey and the crunchy bread crumb crust was delicious. It is one of my personal kitchen goals to make a real cassoulet one day, complete with Tarbais beans and Toulouse sausage and seven hours in the oven, or whatever it takes, but I'm quite pleased with my first foray into cassoulet cooking.

And it got rid of at least two whole cups of leftover turkey meat, which was truly great.

Quick Cassoulet
Serves 8

1 pound dried white beans (such as cannellini, Great Northern or Tarbais) or 2 14-oz cans of cannellini or pinto beans
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound uncooked sausage, in individual links (use garlic, Toulouse sausage or mild Italian)
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
7 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 stem parsley, 2 whole sprigs fresh sage)
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, including juice
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups stale white bread, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
2 cups roast turkey, preferably dark meat, skin removed

1. Place the dried beans, if using, in a large pot with enough water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring the beans to a boil, take them off the heat and let sit for an hour. Drain and set aside. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large braising pot with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and then add the sausage, browning it on all sides over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pot and set aside. Into the same pot with the fat remaining from the sausages, add the onions and carrots. Cook them until soft, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, about 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Add 6 cloves minced garlic, the bouquet garni, tomatoes with juice, drained beans (dried or canned), chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Lay the sausages on the top, cover with the lid and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours (just 45 minutes to an hour if your beans are canned).

4. In a food processor, pulse the stale bread until you have fine crumbs; add the remaining minced garlic, the parsley and 1 tablespoon olive oil and pulse until combined. Set aside.

5. Remove the cassoulet from the oven and arrange the turkey alongside the sausages, pressing in slightly with a spoon. Add a little stock to cover the beans, if needed. Spread the bread crumb mixture on top. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes; the crust should be golden and bubbly.

Comments

[Jade]

This looks great - I'm dealing with leftovers and hating them too :). Soup last night did the trick. How do you like Beacon? I live really close to there - the small city is really coming around lately, all sorts of new shops and restaurants....

[Culinarywannabe]

I think everyone is looking for something to do with all the leftovers -- there are only so many turkey sandwiches a person can eat!

[c.kramer]

Cassoulet is one of my personal cooking goals as well. Congratulations of ridding yourself of two cups of leftover turkey :-) Recipe looks great.

[Biz]

What a great recipe! I saw one of the FoodTV stars make a cassoulet, I had never heard of it before that!

Happy Monday!

Also, if any of your readers are interested, I have my first of the month giveaway - a copy of my brothers funny book called "Why Your Last Diet Failed You." On the back cover he writes:

You'll laugh.
You'll cry.
You'll put it in your next garage sale!

[Tiina]

Turkey leftovers take some imagination to get rid of after Thanksgiving, ang use in different kinds of recipes. This dish looks great. Always in need for simple weekday night meals.

[Gwen]

I adore leftover turkey and have quite a few things to do with it but, considering the fact that I roasted an 18lb turkey for two people, I need all the ideas I can get and this one sounds yummy!

[maggie]

Yum! I've only done faux-cassoulet myself, and it's still pretty darn good.

[Sonja]

This sounds extremely tasty! And just perfect for the cold season.

[Hello]

Delurking to let you know you got a mention in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post. Here is the link:

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2c913216495213d5df646910cba0a0a0/?vgnextoid=e602fe97da3dd110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=teaser&ss=Post+Magazine&s=Life

That's not the whole blurb, I think you need to sign up to read the whole thing.

I have been reading your blog for quite some time now and love it, so I was glad to see you mentioned. Hope you get new (international) readers!

[Sarah]

Cassoulet is one of my personal cooking goals, as well. Which reminds me: I burst out laughing at a recipe from Cookie magazine for cassoulet that started, defensively, "Purists may balk at the time" and it took THREE HOURS. Now, if "purists" are going to turn their noses up at "speedy" three hour cassoulet, then i just don't know what to say.

Oh, and I finally made that fudge pudding cake from the king arthur flour cookbook you served after the bison steaks. I loved it...again! :)

[Fran]

I have made cassoulet two winters in a row. It took me three days to complete this sublime arrangement of meats and beans. I still took some shortcuts. The duck confit, I'll confess, I got it from Whole Foods. Three days, but, the day we eat it, while taking the cassoulet from the window (the pot does not fit in my fridge) to the oven and from the oven to the table, I trembled with anticipation. A nice full bodied red and all set for a meal of happiness. For anybody into serious winter cooking, it is so worth it.