Flashback Friday - Deconstructed Cassoulet

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on February 6, 2014.

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There's a new Asian grocery store in Catonsville called Great Wall. It caters to a largely Chinese clientele, and while I'm not Chinese, I find myself cooking more Chinese-style food than anything from other Asian cultures. That made Great Wall right up my alley, especially when I discovered the selection of duck parts, including whole ducks, duck tongues, and duck legs. On our first exploratory trip to the store, I grabbed a pack of two duck legs to keep in the freezer until inspiration struck.

Inspiration struck pretty quickly.

I had never cooked duck legs on their own before, but after doing some research found that confitting them (cooking them in their own fat) was a pretty simple proposition. Ordinarily, a confit involves extra duck fat in addition to the fat on the legs, but I didn't have that. (I did have a cup or so of bacon grease, left over from making a quadruple batch of bacon jam, but that wasn't going to work. Or maybe it would, but I didn't want bacon-flavored duck. I wanted duck-flavored duck.) Instead, I just went ahead and cooked the legs as is, figuring nothing could go terribly wrong.

Ok, I know you're now expecting me to relate a disaster story. But really--nothing went wrong. As the duck cooked low and slow, its fat was rendered, the meat cooked, and the skin got crisp. Exactly the results I wanted.

While the duck was in the oven, I threw together some white beans seasoned with sausage. In my mind, duck + white beans + sausage = cassoulet, and rather than going through the whole somewhat complicated process of making a real cassoulet, I cooked my components separately. I even toasted some plain bread crumbs in olive oil to mimic cassoulet's customary crusty surface.

The beans were an experiment. I found two lonely links of andouille sausage in the freezer, and added them, with a handful of carrot and onion, to a couple cans of cannellini beans. I didn't have all of the proper fresh herbs to make a bouquet garni for the pot, but I did have a little jar of bouquet garni seasoning that I got from Penzey's as a free gift the last time I placed an order. Their spice mix is a combination of savory, rosemary, thyme, Turkish oregano, basil, dill weed, marjoram, sage, and tarragon; it packed the perfect herbal punch for the bland beans. You, of course, can use an actual bouquet garni (fresh parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf tied up in a bundle with twine), just make sure to remove it before serving.

Both elements of the dish were highly successful. And the beans were amazing. If you cook beans long enough, stirring regularly, they get dreamily creamy and taste really fattening. While my dish used pork sausages, I'm betting that if one used chicken andouille sausage, the result would be just as delicious but practically a diet delight.

Deconstructed Cassoulet

For duck confit:
2 duck legs
salt

For the beans:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup carrot, cut into small dice
1/2 medium onion, diced
pinch salt
2 andouille sausage, cut into small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Penzey's Bouquet Garni seasoning
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup chicken stock
additional salt and pepper to taste

To serve:
minced parsley
toasted bread crumbs

To make the duck: Prick the skin all over with a needle or tip of a sharp knife. Salt generously on both sides and allow to rest for at least an hour.

Wipe salt off of duck and place in a pan or baking dish into which they fit somewhat snugly. Place baking dish in a cold oven and turn oven to 285°F. Cook for 90 minutes to 2 hours, until fat has rendered and duck is tender.

Raise oven temperature to 375°F and cook duck for an additional 15 minutes to brown skin. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes.

To make the beans: Heat the oil in a 3-quart stock pot. Add the carrots and onion and pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until vegetables start to soften. Stir in the sausage and cook an additional 3-4 minutes before adding the garlic and herbs. Add the beans and stock and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer beans for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until quite soft, stirring frequently.

To serve: Either pull the duck meat from the bones or serve legs whole on top of beans. Garnish with minced parsley and toasted bread crumbs.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Chez Hugo

While walking through downtown on my way to meet Mr Minx after work one evening, I noticed that Chez Hugo was on the way to his office. We hadn't yet been there, so I suggested that its convenient location to our already-parked car meant that we needed to check the place out. 

Chez Hugo bills itself as a seasonally inspired, farm-driven bistro, featuring classic French dishes by Chef Steve Monnier. Baltimore has never been a hotbed for French fare, so rarely has there ever been more than two French restaurants in the city. Petit Louis in Roland Park is usually quite busy, so it seems the need is there. However, I was disappointed to find that Chez Hugo was quite empty when we arrived for our 5:45 reservation. Granted, we eat early, but when we left after 7pm, there was still only one other diner. Give the place some love, people!

We deliberated over the menu for a bit before deciding on the duck liver pate and the server-recommended tarte aux courges.

The pate was rich and smooth, with a flavor a bit more refined than that of chicken liver pate. It came with tangy red currants and lovely grilled bread.

Our server was so enthusiastic about the zucchini tart, we felt we couldn't pass it up. But we should have. It's still on the menu, so someone likes it; personally I thought it was bizarre. The crust was crumbly and sweet, somewhat like the graham cracker crust on a no-bake cheesecake. Then came a layer of onions, which the server said would be perfectly caramelized. They appeared to be cooked only a few notches above sweated (you can see they're still pretty white). Finally came a topping of thinly sliced zucchini that were only barely grilled so they still seemed raw. I love the combination of onion and zucchini, which if cooked together slowly can be fairly sweet. Plop that into a savory tart shell, perhaps with a smidge of cheese, and I'm sold. Chez Hugo's version though, not so much.

Things improved considerably with our entrees. I had the Thursday plat du jour (the daily plates aren't on the menu as of this writing) of merguez sausage with a cous cous salad and black garlic naan. The merguez was fab--salty, lamb-y, spicy, juicy. And generously portioned, so I got to take a bit home for breakfast the next day. The black garlic naan was swoon-worthy though...so fluffy and tender on the inside, with a faint garlicky-ness and extra flavor provided by the aggressive charring.

Mr Minx ordered the leg of lamb, which was succulent and well-seasoned. He said it was the most tender lamb he's eaten in a while. Though the farro and pea accompaniments weren't exactly camera-ready, they also were tasty and fulfilled the starch and veg components required by my husband.

Though the entrees were very good, dessert is really where it's at. I had always wanted to try a Paris-Brest, named for a bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris again. A donut-sized ring of choux paste filled with decadent hazelnut pastry cream, this dessert was a sweet-lover's dream.

The tangy tarte au citron with tiny dollops of crisp meringue, fruit, ice cream, and even squares of fruit gelee, was a less-sweet but still delectable finish to our meal.

I have heard that Chez Hugo can get noisy, but I have to assume this happens later in the evening or on the weekends, as it was as quiet as a tomb on our particular Thursday night. I'm looking forward to going back; perhaps one day I can sneak over for lunch....

Chez Hugo
206 E Redwood St
Baltimore, MD 21202
(443) 438-3002
chezhugobistro.com

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Le Bistro du Village

Anyone who had ever been to Crepe du Jour on Sulgrave Avenue in Mount Washington realized that while they had a wide selection of sweet and savory crepes available, they also had a full menu of French favorites like soupe a l'oignon and coq au vin. Those who had never been there, however, probably thought it was just a crepe shop. Mais non! To end seventeen years of possible confusion, owner Mustapha Snoussi changed the name of his French restaurant to Le Bistro du Village. A bit of truth in advertising, as their web site notes.

To help spread the word about the name change and the menu they've always offered, the restaurant invited a select group of local media influencers in for a lovely three course dinner. I was happy for the opportunity to sink my teeth into some duck confit and escargots.

The menu at Le Bistro du Village is divided into several parts. Hors d'oeuvres, les salades composer, les moules maison, and les soupes du jour are essentially appetizers, although many dishes could be a meal unto themselves. Plats Principaux are entrees; there are also sides and, of course, crepes. Desserts, too, for those who don't want to end their meal with a sweet crepe.

We started with four apps for the table. My favorite was the seafood vol-au-vent, a puff pastry shell filled with a mixture of shrimp, scallops, and mushrooms in a tomato-based Provençal sauce. The seafood was tender, and the sauce was simply delicious.

I also enjoyed the moules marinières, a classic preparation of mussels cooked in white wine, with tomatoes, garlic, parsley, & shallots. The mussels were small (a good thing - I find large mussels to be tough) and tender, and the sauce begged for lots of crusty bread with which to mop it up.

We also sampled a salade Niçoise, a classic composed salad usually (but not always) involving tuna, tomatoes, eggs, and green beans. This dish especially would make a nice light supper on its own.

And what's a French dinner without escargots in garlic butter? A travesty. These were classic all the way. Honestly, more restaurants should use escargots. They are really delicious.

For my entree I chose the duck, which included a confit leg and duck breast that was cooked a la sous vide before the skin was browned in a pan. It came with potatoes, spinach, and an orange sauce. At first I was worried that the orange sauce would be too sweet (my first experience with duck a l'orange came at age 11, with cold duck and cloying sauce) but was happy to find that the one at Le Bistro du Village is light and well-balanced. And the dish is beautiful, no?

Also lovely was the carré d'agneau aux herbes, herbed rack of lamb to you and me. The perfect pink chops came with asparagus, roasted potatoes, and a Dijon mustard sauce.

Others at the table ordered the perfectly cooked salmon filet and the unphotogenic but tasty coq au vin, which came over a bed of noodles. There are also plenty of other classic French dishes on the menu, like boeuf Bouguignon and chicken cordon bleu, but also a burger topped with Brie and bacon, for those not wanting to venture too far into the unfamiliar territory of a foreign cuisine. (I am being facetious. Some people just like burgers.)

Our dessert choices were between crepes Suzette and chocolate mousse. All but one of us opted for the crepe, which was not flambeed for us at tableside (the number of crepes would have created quite a blaze!) but still had the classic citrus/Grand Marnier flavor. The crepe was so light and tender, despite its size, most of us had no problem polishing off the whole thing.

Le Bistro du Village is open 7 days a week for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The space is cozy and inviting, and the staff and owner are delightful. I will definitely be visiting more often, and you should, too.

Le Bistro du Village
1609 Sulgrave Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209-3617
410-542-9000

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Posted on Minxeats.com.

Chinese Cassoulet?

A while back, we tasted a seafood cassoulet made by B&O American Brasserie's new chef, Mike Ransom. While it had multiple proteins and white beans, I suggested that it could do with a bit of sausage, perhaps Spanish chorizo. Of course Spanish chorizo wouldn't be typically used in cassoulet, which is a French dish, but I am no traditionalist. (Neither is the chef, it seems.) That got me to thinking about what other sausages would work with beans. As I was nibbling on leftover dim sum, Chinese sausages came to mind. Cold weather was afoot; why not warm up the house with a cassoulet-style dish of duck and beans and...Chinese sausage?

I've decided that it's a fine idea to keep a package of duck legs in the freezer. We get them at Great Wall, a Chinese grocery store in Catonsville, but you can pick them up at most Asian grocers or a fancy supermarket. They're not cheap, but they take up far less room in the freezer than a whole duck, with the added benefit that they thaw more quickly and are less hassle to roast. Roasting duck really makes the house smell great. Great, that is, to a carnivore. Not sure how vegetarians would feel about the fatty aromas that emanated from my oven not too long ago, but I was a happy camper.

I had originally wanted to try the type of Chinese sausage we normally buy, the long, slender, and wrinkled type that are cured, dried, and lightly smoked, but we were out. Mr Minx popped over to Asia Foods on York Road but could only find stubby, fat, uncured sausages. Fortunately, they turned out to be absolutely perfect for this dish.

While the duck got a head start on roasting, I opened up a couple cans of cannelini beans and added a bit of flavoring. I didn't want to overdo it, so started with equal parts doubanjian (a spicy Chinese bean paste), soy sauce, and black vinegar. If you've never used black vinegar, you're missing out on some amazing caramelized goodness. One tablespoon of each was perfect - the beans were spicy, salty, and tangy, with that lovely molasses-y flavor of the black vinegar. Then I added a bit of sugar to round everything out. Mixed with sauteed onions and scallions, the beans, studded with chunks of Chinese pork sausage, made a tasty bed for the duck legs as they finished roasting to a brown crispness.

Cassoulet with Asian Flavors

2 duck legs
1/2 cup duck or bacon fat
Kosher salt
1/2 pound Chinese pork sausages, preferably xiang chang--small, fat, uncured sausages
1 medium onion, chopped
6 scallions, chopped
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock
2-15 1/2 ounce cans of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 tablespoons doubanjian
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
Pinch sugar
Cilantro

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Pour the duck or bacon fat into the bottom of an 8" or 9" baking pan. Put the legs on top, rolling them around in the fat to get them coated. Sprinkle with salt, cover the pan with foil, and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil from the pan. Pour out a tablespoon of fat and reserve; prick the duck skin all over with the point of a knife to help render out more fat. Add the Chinese sausages to the pan. Turn oven temperature up to 350° and put duck and sausages into the oven. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion and scallions in the reserved tablespoon of duck fat. When they are translucent, stir in the garlic. Add the stock, beans, doubanjian, soy, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.

After the duck has been in the oven for the additional 15 minutes, remove sausages and duck from the pan. Pour out the fat and discard (or, reserve for a later use). Cut sausages into thick diagonal slices and stir into the bean mixture. Pour the bean mixture into the pan, then top with the duck legs. Put pan back into the oven and cook for an additional 45 minutes or so. The duck will get crispy and brown, as will the exposed areas of beans. If you want a saucier cassoulet, you can add more chicken stock. Personally, I like the beans on the dry side.

Serve 1 leg per person, with some of the beans. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 2, with extra beans for lunch.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Deconstructed Cassoulet

There's a new Asian grocery store in Catonsville called Great Wall. It caters to a largely Chinese clientele, and while I'm not Chinese, I find myself cooking more Chinese-style food than anything from other Asian cultures. That made Great Wall right up my alley, especially when I discovered the selection of duck parts, including whole ducks, duck tongues, and duck legs. On our first exploratory trip to the store, I grabbed a pack of two duck legs to keep in the freezer until inspiration struck.

Inspiration struck pretty quickly.

I had never cooked duck legs on their own before, but after doing some research found that confitting them (cooking them in their own fat) was a pretty simple proposition. Ordinarily, a confit involves extra duck fat in addition to the fat on the legs, but I didn't have that. (I did have a cup or so of bacon grease, left over from making a quadruple batch of bacon jam, but that wasn't going to work. Or maybe it would, but I didn't want bacon-flavored duck. I wanted duck-flavored duck.) Instead, I just went ahead and cooked the legs as is, figuring nothing could go terribly wrong.

Ok, I know you're now expecting me to relate a disaster story. But really--nothing went wrong. As the duck cooked low and slow, its fat was rendered, the meat cooked, and the skin got crisp. Exactly the results I wanted.

While the duck was in the oven, I threw together some white beans seasoned with sausage. In my mind, duck + white beans + sausage = cassoulet, and rather than going through the whole somewhat complicated process of making a real cassoulet, I cooked my components separately. I even toasted some plain bread crumbs in olive oil to mimic cassoulet's customary crusty surface.

The beans were an experiment. I found two lonely links of andouille sausage in the freezer, and added them, with a handful of carrot and onion, to a couple cans of cannellini beans. I didn't have all of the proper fresh herbs to make a bouquet garni for the pot, but I did have a little jar of bouquet garni seasoning that I got from Penzey's as a free gift the last time I placed an order. Their spice mix is a combination of savory, rosemary, thyme, Turkish oregano, basil, dill weed, marjoram, sage, and tarragon; it packed the perfect herbal punch for the bland beans. You, of course, can use an actual bouquet garni (fresh parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf tied up in a bundle with twine), just make sure to remove it before serving.

Both elements of the dish were highly successful. And the beans were amazing. If you cook beans long enough, stirring regularly, they get dreamily creamy and taste really fattening. While my dish used pork sausages, I'm betting that if one used chicken andouille sausage, the result would be just as delicious but practically a diet delight. 

Deconstructed Cassoulet

For duck confit:

2 duck legs

salt

For the beans:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup carrot, cut into small dice

1/2 medium onion, diced

pinch salt

2 andouille sausage, cut into small dice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 - 1 teaspoon Penzey's Bouquet Garni seasoning

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup chicken stock

additional salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

minced parsley

toasted bread crumbs

To make the duck: Prick the skin all over with a needle or tip of a sharp knife. Salt generously on both sides and allow to rest for at least an hour. 

Wipe salt off of duck and place in a pan or baking dish into which they fit somewhat snugly. Place baking dish in a cold oven and turn oven to 285°F. Cook for 90 minutes to 2 hours, until fat has rendered and duck is tender.

Raise oven temperature to 375°F and cook duck for an additional 15 minutes to brown skin. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes.

To make the beans: Heat the oil in a 3-quart stock pot. Add the carrots and onion and pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until vegetables start to soften. Stir in the sausage and cook an additional 3-4 minutes before adding the garlic and herbs. Add the beans and stock and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer beans for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until quite soft, stirring frequently.

To serve: Either pull the duck meat from the bones or serve legs whole on top of beans. Garnish with minced parsley and toasted bread crumbs.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sofi's Crepes

Back: BBQ pork and shredded cheese. Front: crepe Florentine.

We're bad bloggers. There's always some restaurant that opens fairly nearby that we swear up and down to "try this weekend," but then we never get to it. Months go by before we finally get our asses in gear and try said new place.

Sofi's Crepes at Belvedere Square is one of those places. Despite being so close, we seldom find ourselves anywhere near the market, except in passing. But now that the Senator Theatre is open once again, we have a good excuse to not only drop by, but also to stay for a while.

One recent evening, we decided on a crepe dinner before seeing a movie on the big screen. (Has anyone else noticed that not only are there fewer seats in the original auditorium, but they're also smaller? Or has my ass gotten that much bigger since the last time we went to the movies?)

Mr Minx ordered the bbq pork crepe, which was messily stuffed with smoky pulled pork. He enjoyed it. Personally, I thought the sauce was too smoky, but liked that there was a generous amount of filling. I had the crepe Florentine, with spinach, Gruyere, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, and a pepper parmesan sauce. You all know how picky I am by now, so it won't surprise you when I say I think the spinach and mushrooms would have been better had they been sauteed, not raw. With every bite, my teeth yanked out a whole spinach leaf as a flavorless white mushroom slice popped out onto the table. Would have been nice if the sunflower seeds hadn't been just this side of rancid, too. According to the chef/cook/dude who made the crepes, the Florentine is one of their best sellers, along with the Kevin Bacon (turkey, bacon, 1000 Island dressing). Trust me - cooked spinach and mushrooms would taste much better.

Couldn't find fault with the crepe itself though. It was properly eggy, tender and crisp-edged. Next time I'll just get one plain, maybe with some lemon and sugar, the way my Dad used to make them when I was a kid. That BATS crepe sounds good too though (bacon, avocado, tomato, sour cream)....

We also had a dessert crepe, which Crepe Dude thoughtfully split into two smaller, individually-wrapped portions: the turtle, with caramel, melted chocolate, and sliced almonds. I couldn't really taste the caramel, but the combination of melted chocolate and crepe took me straight to Paris. My family had taken a trip there in the 70s and we ate our fair share of chocolate-filled crepes from a street cart near our hotel. (A completely unrelated aside: we stayed at the Hotel du Danube, at 48 Rue Jacob. It was a semi-fleabag then; the first room we were shown didn't have heat, and it was an unseasonably cold November. Our second room wasn't much better, but it was warm. Now it seems to be a luxury hotel.)

While I had issues (don't I always?), I thought Sofi's was a perfect place to grab a quick bite before a film. The food was filling, but didn't weigh me down or make me sleepy, an important consideration before heading into a dark theater.

Sofi's Crepes
5911 York Road
Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 727-5737





Posted on Minxeats.com.