Deconstructed Curry Cassoulet

Recipes

One thing I love about making my own sauces is the ability to create a dish with one pot (and only cleaning it once), utilizing all of the amazing bits of flavor that get stuck at the bottom of the pan during the cooking process.

I tend to make each component of a dish on its own, because, when I am designing a recipe, each component builds upon the previous to create the overall flavor profile of the dish, and I don’t want the flavors to completely blend together and get lost. Yes, it makes for a more complicated procedure, but the end result is infinitely more complex, nuanced, and interesting to eat.

This particular dish is a riff on a cassoulet, which is a slow-cooked southern French stew made with beans and meat, and is named after the vessel that it is cooked in, called a cassole. Traditionally, the meats used are pork sausages, goose or duck confit, and pork skin – though, some changes occur regionally. Needless to say, traditional cassoulet take a long time to cook.

Since we are red-meat free around here, and duck is not particularly readily available, I had to find some work-arounds to build some deep flavor with limited ingredients. I did this by using smokiness from turkey bacon (you can use tempeh here for a vegan option, or real bacon if you prefer), vadouvan curry powder (this has a slightly lighter flavor than a regular curry powder, and includes herbs commonly found in French cuisine), white balsamic vinegar (I originally wanted to use white wine vinegar, but had run out), and fresh tarragon. Vadouvan curry powder is available on Amazon, but you can sub regular curry powder (down to 1 tsp) with 1 tsp thyme for similar results.

Print Recipe

Deconstructed Curry Cassoulet

Tarragon-infused white bean puree paired with vadouvan curry carrot coulis and a honey gastrique, paired with pan roasted trumpet mushroom steaks.
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the bean puree

  • 2 cans white beans rinsed and drained
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 tbsp tarragon minced
  • 2-3 cups vegetable stock
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste

For the carrot coulis/honey gastrique

  • 5-7 carrots, orange
  • 2 tsp vadouvan curry powder
  • 2 shallot finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2-3 cups vegetable stock
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup white wine vinegar + 2 tbsp
  • 1/2 package turkey bacon diced
  • 2-4 tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 lb trumpet mushrooms sliced

Instructions

  • Heat up pan with 2T olive oil. When the pan is hot, add bacon, and cook until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan and set aside.
  • Add sliced trumpet mushrooms, adding extra oil if needed, and grill until edges are crispy and mushrooms are browned. Remove from pan, salt to taste, and set aside.
  • Add shallots, carrots, and garlic, and cook until shallots soften. Add curry powder and stir until combined. Add enough stock to cover the carrots by 1/2 inch, and cook until carrots are soft and liquid is reduced by half. Salt to taste. Transfer to blender or safe container for immersion blender, and blend until everything is smooth and pureed. Set aside.
  • In separate saucepan, heat honey and vinegar, and simmer until reduced by 1/2, stirring frequently. Add additional tablespoons of vinegar to thin if mixture becomes too thick when cooled. Serve separately or add to carrot coulis.
  • To pan, add beans, 2tbsp of vinegar, garlic, and vegetable stock until beans are just covered. Salt to taste. Add 1T of tarragon, and simmer until liquid is almost gone, stirring often. Remove from heat and add remainder of tarragon. Serve as is, or blend into puree.
  • In dish, layer puree, coulis (and gastrique if separate), and mushrooms. Garnish with chopped scallions and bacon bits.

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