On Nick's 30th birthday UPS delivered a box filled with cryovacced meat and a package of white beans. Nick was thrilled to the gills, but I was all, "uh, yay. A bunch of meat". As a gift, our friend Matt sent Nick his homemade prosciutto, sausage, smoked duck breast, duck confit, pork, some type of glace and three pages of instruction on how to put together a Cassoulet. Originally a peasant dish from Southwest France, this bean stew has a rich history and even a gastronomic law regulating the bean to meat ratio to protect authenticity. Apparently France takes its traditional dishes very seriously. Our Cassoulet was not up to code, but we tried to be authentic with the pate', cheeses and wine. (I'm not sure what peasants ate for appetizers, but I doubt they served them in Marc Jacobs, so I could only take the theme so far.)
Meat Fest
Yesterday we finally took it out of the freezer and Nick spent all day preparing the Cassoulet. I think he only had to call Matt around 20 times to ask questions. In the end there was duck fat everywhere, one small fire and the house smelled of bacon. I whipped up an apple tart and invited some of our favorite peasants over for dinner.
Shorty up way past his bed time
After being underwhelmed by the Beef Bourguignon, I didn't have great expectations for our latest haute cuisine, but oh my goodness it was so delicious. Merci Matt! It's going to be a long time before I have the chance to eat something so special again.
Cassoulet -Yay! A bunch of meat!!
