Cassoulet

Dinner for two

Last night supper was wonderful...like a cozy sweater on a cold day.  We ended the evening with a classic French dish: Cassoulet served with a slice of light rye bread and Pinot Noir, and playing scrabble while listening to the “Cabin Party” on VOCM (http://www.vocm.com/inside.asp?mn=10&id=1726&cc=5 ).  Just awesome. 

This French dish is a slow cooking bean stew normally cooked in a casserole in the oven but it does well when cooked in a slow cooker.  This is a country dish not a fancy dish meant to fill the belly and soothe the soul.  This is another wonderful dish for those who are feeling like they need to be a little more health conscious as it is very filling, full of fibre and a serving is only 431 calories, albeit a little devoid of vegetables.  Cooking in a slow cooker is great as you throw everything in the pot turn it on and walk away.  The downside of cooking in a slow cooker is that the house smells great and that makes me hungry!  In an ideal circumstance, there would be snow outside to spend the day skiing but this is Southern Ontario and there is not a lick of snow anywhere. Coming home cold and flushed with activity, opening the door to the embracing smells of stew: bacon, beans, tomato, garlic...mmmmmmm.



Pinot Noir grapes on the vine in Napa



Pairing wine with food can really enhance a meal but I don’t often make recommendations as to what wine to serve with dishes. My first principle on wine and food is to drink what you like. That being said my favourite wine to pair with a meal that has smoky salty flavours is a Pinot Noir. If you are inclined to open a bottle of wine when serving this, consider a Pinot. The flavours balance marvellously. 



Saintsbury's best supervisor (Ralph the cat) making sure our experience was perfect



We don’t believe in saving good bottles of wine for “special occasions”, a quiet Saturday evening at home was reason enough to pull a bottle of Saintsbury Pinot Noir (http://www.saintsbury.com/ ).  We were fortunate enough to be able to visit the winery in Napa, California and fell in love with the wine.  Unfortunately, we are not able to get the wine here in Ontario but my sister gave us 2 bottles for Christmas delivered safely from Newfoundland!  

The inspiration for this comes from a Canadian Living Magazine (November 2011), check out the original and find your own inspiration. 

4 cans	Navy Beans, no salt added, drained and rinsed (you can soak beans overnight and then boil for a few minutes before placing in the slow cooker)
1 can	Whole Tomatoes, no salt added, drained
2	Onions, diced
1	Carrot, diced
1	Rib celery, diced
4 cloves	Garlic, minced
2	Bay leafs
1 ½ tsp	Dried thyme and parsley
½ tsp	Pepper
1	Smoked ham hock (can use cured ham or smoked turkey leg  if not able to find a ham hock)
2 cups	Kielbasa or other Polish Sausage, cut into ½ inch rounds
4 slices	Bacon, cut in to slivers
1 ½ cup	Chicken broth (you can do ¾ cup chicken broth and ¾ cup white wine which is what I would have done but I did not have a bottle of white wine open and knew we were having red later)

Ready to serve

Throw beans, tomatoes, onions, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley into the slow cooker. Top with ham hock, sausages and bacon.  Do not stir.  Throw in broth.  Cover and cook for 6- 8 hours.

When cooked, discard bay leaf. Remove ham hock with a slotted spoon and discard bones, fat and skin.  Shred meat in to larger chunks. Return meat to the slow cooker.

ENJOY!