Meet Dec 6, 2011

This was the first CADS meeting at the Clendenins after their kitchen was completely remodeled. See Menu Dec 6, 2022. Nat came early to help out, but it turned out everything was pretty much ready anyway.

The soup was rather easy. I baked 3 medium butternut squash (purchased the Sunday before at MP Farmer's Market) for 1 hour concurrent with final baking of cassoulet. I wasn't too happy with the final color. I thought it should have been more orange/yellow. The color was probably dominated by the stock I used: Pacifica organic souip starter Vegetarian Pho soup base. I also wasn't happy with the thyme sprigs in the soup--the sprigs survive the blending process. Next time I think I'd just use dried Thyme leaves. One can vary the squash type and/or the stock type. We ate only about 1/4th of the soup, although the recipe claims it serves only 4. I assume the recipe is sized for the soup as the main course.

The principal menu item was a cassoulet using a recipe that appeared in the SF Chronicle a couple months ago (Home-Style Farm Cassoulet at http://www.sfgate.com/food/recipes/detail.html?p=detail&rid=18551&sorig=qs). Both the recipe and my online comments about my preparation for our CADS dinner are copied here.

There is nothing particularly tricky about a cassoulet except: 1) get correct beans; 2) allow about 3 hours for preliminary cooking of bean mixture; 3) preparing meat and other details is about 1 hour, followed by 4) about 2 hours for final baking. So it can all be done in one day if you start early.

My cassoulet turned out to be a little dry. This was because at 6 pm or so, the beans were done, I turned off the oven but left casserole dish in the oven to keep it warm, then I joined the gang in the living room. By the time the cassoulet was actually served, over an hour had gone by, but I hadn't paid attention to the state of the liquid. It would have been sufficient to add a little water about 7 pm. Next time I'll wait a little later before starting the final baking.

There are cassoulet recipes that use a simpler combination of meats. Slightly Short Cut Cassoulet (http://www.sfgate.com/food/recipes/detail.html?p=detail&rid=18552&sorig=qs ) is almost the same recipe, but uses only ham bones and chopped pancetta (plus extra beans).

Since 6 of us consumed most of the cassoulet said to be sufficient for 8-10, so be forewarned about the recipe's quantity.

By the way, duck confit as a main course can by itself be a rather exotic cooking experience. I found an Easy Duck Confit Recipe. Based on this recipe, I pricked the skin of the duck for the cassoulet.

Minutes by Jym