Cassoulet

How to make it

1. Rinse the lingot beans in cold water and pick out any broken or misshapen ones. Soak them in a large bowl with plenty of cold water, so the water stands three finger-widths above them (see advance prep).
   Chef's tip Snap a bean in half after soaking: the cut surface should be evenly colored and moist all the way through. A chalky, dry core in the middle means old beans that will never turn properly tender.
2. Drain off the soaking water and put the beans in a pot with plenty of fresh cold water. Bring to a boil and let them cook for 5 minutes, until a gray foam has collected on the surface. Drain through a sieve. This brief parboiling removes the compounds from the beans that would otherwise make the dish heavy to digest. ⏱ 10 min
3. Put the pork skin strips and pork shank in a large pot and pour the 2.5 liters cold water over. Bring slowly to a boil and skim with a slotted spoon, until the surface is clear and free of gray specks. ⏱ 15 min
   Chef's tip Start in cold water and hold it just below a boil while you skim — the proteins set slowly and gather as foam you can lift off. At a hard boil, fat and specks get whisked back into the liquid and the stock turns cloudy.
4. Stick the cloves into the peeled onion and add it to the pot along with the carrot, two cloves of garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley. Season lightly with salt and let it simmer covered, until the shank meat releases from the bone without resistance and the bouillon has taken on body — this takes hours, not one, so keep the heat at a lazy bubble and top up with hot water if the shank comes uncovered. ⏱ 2 h–2 h 30 min · passive
5. Lift the pork shank and pork skin out with a slotted spoon and strain the bouillon through a fine sieve. Discard the vegetables and herbs. Pick the meat off the warm shank in coarse pieces and discard the bone, cartilage, and sinew. ⏱ 15 min
6. Put the parboiled beans into the strained bouillon so they are just covered, and season the bouillon to taste with salt. Let the beans simmer very gently covered for 1 hour, until they are tender to the center but still whole. Go easy on the salt, since the confit and sausages will salt the dish further in the oven. ⏱ 1 h · passive
   Chef's tip Keep it at a bare tremble — one lazy bubble breaking every few seconds, not a rolling surface. Agitation knocks the skins loose and you end up with a purée rather than whole beans in liquid.
7. Lift the duck legs out of the fat they were confited in and scrape off the outermost layer of fat with the back of a knife. Heat 1 tablespoon of duck fat in a pan over medium heat and brown the legs skin-side down for 6 minutes, until the skin is golden and crisp. Set them aside.
   Chef's tip The legs are already fully cooked — this is only for the skin. Scraping off the soft outer fat lets the skin dry and blister instead of poaching in its own melt; listen for a steady fine sizzle, not a splutter.
8. Add the last tablespoon of duck fat to the pan and brown the sausages for 6 minutes, until they have taken on a golden color all the way around. They only need color here — they'll cook through in the oven.
   Chef's tip Don't prick the sausages. The casing holds the rendered fat and juices in, and once it splits, that fat runs into the pan instead of seasoning the beans in the oven.
9. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
10. Cut the last clove of garlic in half and rub the inside of the cassole with the cut side. Cover the bottom with the pork skin strips, fat-side down. The skin keeps the beans from sticking and gives the dish the sticky richness it needs.
11. Lift the beans out of the bouillon with a slotted spoon and fill half of them into the cassole, then spread the picked shank meat and browned duck legs on top in a single layer.
12. Cover with the rest of the beans and press the sausages halfway into the surface, so their curve still rises above the beans.
13. Pour the hot bouillon over, until it rises to the top of the beans without standing above them, and give the dish a few turns of the pepper mill. Keep the rest of the bouillon warm on the side. The liquid should be visible between the beans, since if it sits too high, a crust will never form.
14. Place the cassole in the middle of the oven and bake it for 1 hour, until a light brown crust has formed over the beans. ⏱ 1 h · passive
15. Gently press the crust down into the beans with the back of a spoon and add a splash of the warm bouillon if the surface is dry. Continue baking for 1 hour and repeat the pressing once more along the way, so a new golden crust has time to form each time. ⏱ 1 h · passive
    Chef's tip Add only bouillon that is genuinely hot. A cold splash drops the surface temperature and browning stalls until it recovers — you lose the last crust of that hour.
16. Bake the final half hour without touching the crust, so it can become whole, golden, and crisp. The beans should be completely tender, the sausages cooked through, and the liquid thick and just barely visible between the beans. ⏱ 30 min · passive
17. Take the cassole out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes, so the liquid settles and the beans soak up the last of it. ⏱ 15 min · passive
18. Set the cassole directly on the table and let everyone break the crust with a spoon and ladle it into deep plates. Each portion should have one duck leg, one sausage, a couple of pieces of shank meat, and plenty of beans. Everyone gets both crust and liquid.