- Was the day I ran around to 5 butchers and 3 grocery stores
- Was the day I spent $65 on 7 cuts of meat
- Was the day that stretched into 3 days, all dedicated to preparing one dish
- Was the day I was introduced to the French culinary concept of boiling entire unpeeled garlic heads
- Was the day I spent a night with my alarm set for every half hour to wake up and stir the ragout
- Was the day I realized just how heavy the cast iron pot was, and it only got heavier
- Was the day I couldn't understand how something could be fried, cooled, boiled, cooled, boiled, cooled, baked, cooled, baked, and cooled... and not spontaneously combust along the way
- Was the day I defiled French cooking with (get this :P) gluten-free bread crumbs!
- The night I shared the toulousain cassoulet with my friends (tonight) was theee most gratifying
The cassoulet is a slow (sloooow) cooked carnivorous casserole of Castelnaudary, a region of Southern France, named after le cassole, the inverted-cone-shaped pot that it is traditionally baked in. This toulousain version includes duck confit and nutmeg toulousain sausage (both specialties of the region of Toulouse, 50 km south of Castelnaudary), as well as ham hock, pork shoulder, pancetta, prosciutto, and pork skin.
Bon appetit!
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