Cassoulet is a classic french dish of beans, spices, and meats baked slowly. It’s a real source of pride in France. The best way I can find to describe it is somewhere between baked beans, chili, and a casserole.
- 2 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp chopped garlic (about 4 cloves)
- 2 Parsnips peeled, diced.
- 1 sweet potato, peeled, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced.
- About 2 cups water.
- 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 cups cooked white beans (about 2 14 oz cans)
- Parsley or scallions to garnish, optional
- Preheat oven to 350
- In a shallow pan, sautee parsnips, sweet potato, onion, and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes.
- Mix mustard, vinegar, and a little water into a paste.
- Take casserole pan, and add 1 cup of water, mustard mix and spices, blend thoroughly.
- Add vegetables and beans to mixture in casserole pan. Stir thoroughly to mix.
- Add remaining water until the mix is just barely covered.
- Cover pan in foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Uncover pan, bake for 15 minutes.
- Stir before serving. Add parsley or scallions when serving if you wish.
How does it look? Actually very appealing.
And the result?
Very weird.
It is a strange mixture of bland, spicy, watery, and filling. The parsley definitely adds something, and the parsnips add a fun bite. I can clearly see how this is a dish that people have their own versions over or argue over, as you take some simple ingredients, but it passes through a gate into that real where the subtle personal differences get pretty powerful.
I like it, but I’m not “into” it like I am some other bean dishes – you all know how I adore baked beans and some bean stews.
However, I think I want to keep at this and perfect my own version just because this is me. My thoughts are:
- It might be fun to add a potato to add more mildness.
- Replace a parsnip with a rutabaga.
- Replace the sweet potato with carrots.
- Make the sauce half water, half tomato paste.
- Add some sugar.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.