Author Notes
Cassoulet...a big pot of white bean stew flavored with delicious duck fat. It's fireplace-weather food. But don't even attempt to make a cassoulet without the crispy crust that tops it (trust me). You'll just feel like your eating a bowl of beans that's missing...something awesome. But following a gluten-free diet does not mean you have to sacrifice that crust. Ground Rice Chex cereal replaces the traditional breadcrumbs and even browns nicely in the oven. I find myself snacking on the remaining Rice Chex straight out of the box while the cassoulet cooks. —cratecooking
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Ingredients
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4 cups
dried white beans, soaked 4-8 hours in cold water
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2
yellow onions
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4
garlic cloves
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10 sprigs
fresh thyme
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2
fresh bay leaves
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3/4 pound
fresh pork belly, skinless
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3/4 pound
boneless lamb shoulder
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Kosher salt
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freshly ground black pepper
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2 tablespoons
duck fat, plus more for crust - yes, find duck fat
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3
Toulouse sausages (or other pork sausages)
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3/4 cup
dry white wine
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14.5 ounces
canned diced toamtoes
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2 teaspoons
tomato paste
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2
duck confit legs, skin removed and reserved, meat shredded
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4 ounces
Gluten-Free Rice or Corn Chex
Directions
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Drain the soaked beans, rinse, and place in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Peel one of the onions and cut in half. Place the cut onion, 2 cloves of garlic, thyme and bay leaves in the pot of beans. Bring to boil and simmer over medium low heat until the beans are just tender, anywhere from 45 to 75 minutes depending on the beans. When the beans are cooked discard the onions and herbs. Transfer the beans to a bowl but reserve the booking liquid.
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Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Cut the pork belly and lamb shoulder in to one-inch pieces and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat the duck fat in a large Dutch oven (I use a 7 quart) over medium-high heat, and brown the pork belly and lamb in two batches; transfer to a plate. Sear the sausages in the Dutch oven until brown; transfer to the plate. Once sausages are cool, cut in to quarters.
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Reduce heat to medium. Chop the remaining onion and cloves of garlic. Add the onion to the Dutch oven and cook until softened. Add the garlic, cook for one minute and add the wine. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pot to release the browned bits. Simmer until wine has reduced by half. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste, and simmer over medium-low heat until reduced and slightly thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
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Add the beans to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Set aside half of the bean and tomato mixture in a large bowl. Place the pork belly, lamb and shredded duck confit meat on top of the beans remaining in the Dutch oven. Cover the meats with the remaining half of the beans. Press the sausage quarters in to the beans. Pour enough of the bean cooking liquid in to the pot until it just comes to the top of the beans.
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Coarsely grind the Chex in a food processor fitted with a steel blade until they resemble breadcrumbs. Place enough ground Chex on top of the beans to create a nice crust. Dot the Chex with duck fat and the duck confit skin as you would like.
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Bake the cassoulet for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the crust is golden. Be sure not to let the cassoulet get too dry, adding more cooking liquid if necessary.
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