Lazy Fall Cassoulet

It is the weekend, time to focus on “me” things; there are some lectures on responsible AI, I want to audit, a new idea for a lifter to be used in my kinetic sculptures that must be mocked up and trialed, planning for my trip to re:Invent, a visit to the local farm stand, and in general a bit of chill.

The local farm stand had quite an array of offerings, the most striking being a massive hen and chicks mushroom with a massive price tag. Passing that by, I found some lowly cremini mushrooms at a lowly (comparatively) price. Also present were bagged white beans; from the presentation, I assume they are locally produced. (We all know the phrase about assuming.) I’ll pick up a bag (I’ll have to rinse, pick, and soak overnight), along with some fresh carrots and onions, as an idea starts to form in my head.

I’m thinking of a cassoulet, a French slow-cooked stew of white beans and meat, but as a switch-up, I’ll make this a vegetarian meal by substituting mushrooms for the meats and using porcini soak water for the stock. I’ll probably need to add vegetable broth to the cook. (No, I am not going vegetarian, but a break from meat occasionally does not hurt.)

One can easily add good pork sausages to the ready-to-cook cassoulet and let the slow cooker slowly stew the sausages into the beans.

I’ll let my slow cooker do the deed whilst I listen to the instructor drone on about explainability/interpretability, transparency, variance, and bias in the AI models. (My brain is melting and running out of my ears.)

From Wikipedia:

Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked stew originating in southern France. The food writer Elizabeth David described it as “that sumptuous amalgamation of haricot beans, sausage, pork, mutton and preserved goose, aromatically spiced with garlic and herbs”. It originated in the town of Castelnaudary in the Aude department in the Occitanie region. Variants of the dish are local to other towns and cities in the Aude.

In cassoulets, the haricot bean is now always the principal ingredient. In the medieval period, broad beans (favolles), fresh or dried, were used in stews of the cassoulet type.

Traditionally, the dish is cooked in an earthenware pot, which Jane Grigson notes is correctly called a cassole or toupin; she adds that any earthenware or stoneware casserole will do, “provided it is deep and wide”.

Fall Cassoulet

Mushrooms, and beans casserole.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 7 hours hrs

Soak Time 8 hours hrs

Course Dinner

Cuisine American, French

Servings 3 people

Calories 251 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Slow Cooker

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 lb Cannelli Beans Picked, Rinsed, Soaked overnight
• 1 ea Yellow onion Peeled, Diced
• 1-2 cups Veggie Broth
• 2 ribs Celery Washed, Diced
• 1 ea Carrot Peeled, Diced
• 3 cloves Garlic peeled, minced
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 4 sprigs Thyme Fresh
• 1 oz Porcini Mushrooms Dried
• 8 oz Cremini Mushrooms Cleaned, chunked to 3/4"
• 1 tbsp Neutral oil

Instructions

 

• Soak porcini mushrooms in 3 cups very hot water for about 20 minutes.
• Remove mushrooms from water, squeezing over bowl to extract liquid.
• Finely chop rehydrated mushrooms; set aside
• Strain soaking water via coffee filter set into a fine wire mesh strainer. Reserve
• Add the beans and mushroom soak water to the slow cooker; set to high and bring to a simmer. Add veggie stock to cover, if necessary
• In a cast-iron skillet over medium heat heat the oil to a spider,
• Add the mirepoix and mushrooms to the skillet, and cook until the onions are soft and translucent and start to take color; add the garlic and cook until fragrant; thence, add to the beans.
• Deglaze the skillet with the wine; scraping the fond up. Then add to the beans. Add the thyme on top of the beans; Lid up the slow cooker
• Set slow cooker to low, and cook until the beans start to break down; ~ 5-6 hours.
• Taste, season, and balance flavor
• Serve with crusty bread and a side salad

Notes

I’ve written this to use a slow cooker and portioned this as a cook for two.

One can use a heavy cast iron cooker and slow cook this in the oven at ~ 275.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 251kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 8gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 253mgPotassium: 605mgFiber: 6gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 475IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 88mgIron: 3mg

Keyword Beans, Braised, Mushroom

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