The roast pork
Today was long. Very. Long. So I made a cassoulet with mutton and pork. I started the day off with some roast pork. The previous night I marinated it in herbs and garlic and spices. In the morning I fried it on all sides and put it in the onion for an hour. Then I took it out and let it rest and cut it into bite-size chunks.
The beans and the rind
Next I boiled some water and put some beans in, I boiled for 2 minutes, turned the heat off and let soak for until use. I then refreshed some salt pork rind by placing it in a pan with some cold water, bringing to boil, boiling for a minute, then draining, rinsing and repeating. After I did that twice, the third time, I boiled for 30 minutes. This softens the pork.
The mutton
Then I was going to bone some lamb shoulder. But it stank. It stank of old feet and decaying meat. Incredibly disappointing especially seeing as we payed 20 euros (!) for it. I boned it all the same because I could always use the practice, but we gave it to the chickens. So we have no lamb, but it’s too late to turn back. We drove to the nearest town (that I won’t name for safety reasons XD) to go to the butcher. We got there and it was closed. Great. Seems the gods don’t want us to have this friggin’ cassoulet. We went to the supermarket (sadly) and bought some mutton in chunks to be safe.
Le mouton
Ensuite, j’allais désosser une épaule d’agneau. Mais ça puait. Ça puait les vieux pieds et la viande en décomposition. C’était incroyablement décevant, surtout que nous avions payé 20 euros ( !) pour ça. Je l’ai désossée quand même parce que l’entrainement est toujours utile, mais nous l’avons donnée aux poules. Nous n’avons donc plus d’agneau, mais il est trop tard pour faire marche arrière. Du coup, nous avons conduit jusqu’à la ville la plus proche (que je ne nommerai pas pour des raisons de sécurité XD) pour aller chez le boucher. Nous y sommes arrivés et c’était fermé. Super. On dirait que les dieux ne veulent pas qu’on ait ce foutu cassoulet. Nous sommes allés au supermarché (malheureusement) et avons acheté du mouton en morceaux pour être sûrs.
The mutton and the beans (again)
Okay. So now I browned the lamb on all sides, then some onions. After that, I returned the lamb to the pan and put some stock and white wine in. I put it in the onion for an hour. Meanwhile, I boiled some salt pork to remove the saltiness, then added it and the rind to the beans. I boiled the beans for an hour and a half. Then I drained the beans, took out the bacon and and reserved the cooking water. Then I removed the lamb and put the beans into the lamb cooking juices. I boiled for 5 minutes and let sit for a further 10.
The final cooking
Now I browned lightly some Toulouse sausage. After that, I crumbed some bread and mixed it with some parsley. Then, I layered the meat with the beans, put the crumbs on top and put it in the onion at 190ºC for 20 minutes. Then I broke the crust that formed on top and lowered the oven to 160ºC and cooked for a further 40 minutes breaking the crust half way through. EAT TIME. It’s real peasant food isn’t it? I love it. The beans were a bit over ( they were mushy) and for Mum and Dad the mutton and the pork didn’t sit right, but I liked it. It wasn’t too fatty either!
That was long! It was the first big recipe which is cool! I really have to go because I ate cat food instead of tuna and I am now very ill. Bye bye!
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