Menu #26 for the Gutsy Cook's Club - Cassoulet!

Another week has ramped up to demonstrate menu #26 of The Gutsy Cook's Club:

Roasted Beet and Feta Salad

Cassoulet

and

Dessert: Baked Pears in Marsala

We are all cooking/baking from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible by Victoria Blashford-Snell. Monica of Sweet Bites (mastermind behind the Gutsy Cook's Club) has received permission from Victoria for each host to present the recipe in his or her blog as well. If you would like to read a brilliant write-up of this delicious, savory and sweet menu, please go to The Gutsy Cook's Club Announcements segment. You will not be disappointed! Monica has posted great ideas, antidotes, and history behind the meal. I chose a light salad and dessert because the dinner is hearty and deserves colorful, bright, fresh vegetables and fruit to compliment a heavy main course. Cassoulet has enamored me since I read about the dish in Julia Child's first French cookbook published and I have only made the dish once before (not Julia's recipe but another's). The dish took 3 days total. Victoria's cassoulet took me (1) day and my only alterations were using chicken legs instead of duck; duck legs would have required an hours drive; and andouille sausage filled with chicken, feta cheese, and herbs. We loved every bite; extremely filling. The roasted beet salad was picked out of a fascination for any recipe that compliments beets. Beets are a healthy root vegetable and gorgeous for plating purposes (definitely messy as well). The dressing used to toss the salad together has great flavor and depth with just a hint of sweet from the honey. The pear dessert was chosen for simplicity, color, and plating. I chose to serve ladyfingers on the side, soaking up the Marsala sauce, waiting to be used as a scoop for the slightly sweetened whipped cream. The pears were light with a tinge of cinnamon and Marsala flavor. We enjoyed all three segments of the menu and I could see myself making each dish again.

Cassoulet

Ingredients:

2 cups dried Great Northern Beans

1 T. olive oil

8 Italian pork sausages

9 oz. pancetta, diced

2 onions, finely chopped

1 carrot, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 duck legs

1 sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 T. tomato paste

3 1/2 cups hot water

one 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes

1 cup white wine

2 cups bread crumbs

1 garlic clove, minced

1 T. chopped parsley

Directions:

1) Place the beans in a large saucepan and add enough cold water to cover by 1-inch. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand 2-3 hours. Drain.

2) Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook for 7-8 minutes, until browned. Transfer to a plate. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, until browned. Transfer to the sausages. Add the onions and carrot and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Set aside for 1 minute.

3) Preheat the oven 425 degrees F. Prick the duck skin all over with a fork and put on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the duck tothe sausages and reserve 2 Tablespoons of the fat in the pan, Reduce the oven temp to 275 degrees F.

4) In a large flameproof casserole, layer half the beans, the onions and carrot, sausages, pancetta, duck legs, thyme, and bay leaves, followed by the remaining beans.

5) Dissolve the tomato paste in the hot water, then stir in the tomatoes and their juices and the wine. Pour over the beans. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Remove from the oven and uncover. The cassoulet should be thick, but moist. Taste and season with salt and pepper and add a little hot water, if needed. Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour more.

6) To make the topping, mix the bread crumbs and garlic. Heat the reserved duck fat in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the crumbs and cook, stirring often, about 7 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Stir in the parsley. Remove the cassoulet from the oven and stir. Sprinkle the bread crumb topping over in a thick, even layer, and serve hot.

Roasted Beet and Feta Salad

Ingredients:

6 small beets, scrubbed but unpeeled

2 T. olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 red onion, thinly sliced

4 oz. arugula

4 oz. feta cheese, cubed

2 T. chopped mint

For the Dressing

1 T. balsamic vinegar

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 t. honey

3 T. olive oil

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the beets in a roasting pan. Add 1/2 cup water and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Roast about 1 3/4 hours, or until tender.

2) Uncover the beets and let cool. Peel and dice the beets.

3) Whisk the vinegar, mustard, and honey together in a small bowl, then whisk in the oil. Combine the beets, onions, and dressing in a bowl and toss. Sprinkle the arugula, feta, and mint over the top. Toss gently, and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Baked Pears in Marsala

Ingredients:

6 firm, ripe pears, such as Bosc, peeled, halved, and cored

1 cup dry Marsala

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

one 3-inch cinnamon stick

1 cup heavy cream

2 T. confectioner's sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Place the pears in an ovenproof dish, cut side up, and sprinkle with the Marsala, sugar, and vanilla, then pour in 1 cup of water. Tuck in the cinnamon stick.

2) Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes, basting occasionally, until tender.

3) Meanwhile, in a chilled bowl whip the cream, gradually adding the confectioner's sugar until firm peaks form. Serve the pears warm (or cool to room temperature and refrigerate until chilled), in their syrup, with the whipped cream.

What a whirlwind of a month. Thank you for letting me host the menus for the month of March. What a great experience this was!

ABC of the Month & CEiMB - Healthy versus Chocolate~!

ABC of the Month is suppose to be on the first Tuesday of every month AND this month was my pick. I am actually 1 1/2 days late! I feel terrible. My choice: All-American Choc Cake with Divinity Frosting and Milk Chocolate Paint. (CEiMB is posted just below.)

I did not have two 6 x 3 - inch pans so I used three 6 x 2 - inch pans and boy am I glad that I did (the cakes puffed to the very top of all three pans). Flo Braker's cookbook, Baking for All Occasions, has us baking a dark chocolate cake mixed with 1 cup of coffee, unsweetened melted chocolate, sour cream, brown sugar and a few other ingredients to combine into one of the moistest, flavorful chocolate cakes I have ever tasted. Am I the only one that did not see where in the directions to swirl in the melted chocolate? I added the chocolate in just before the coffee and used a spatula to swirl it in.

The divinity frosting went together like a breeze and painting on melted chocolate was a wonderful visual touch. I have met my chocolate cake match and LOVE this recipe. Flo, you and Evie Lieb (mentioned in recipe dialog) are both brilliant!

Hanaa and to the rest of the group, I sincerely apologize for being late! Everyone else, Flo Braker's book is stunning and well put together. Definitely worth every penny and Amazon has used copies at great prices. With this said, on to CEiMB!

Elina of Healthy and Sane chose this week's recipe: Baked Felalfal Sandwiches (recipe found on the Food Network site here.)

I have never eaten a falafel ~ ever. No idea what one should taste like. Then I start looking for Tahini paste ( recipe calls for the sesame seed paste for the sauce). Nope! Not happening. Now what? Invent my own sauce. BTW, we like this but I definitely altered a few things, listed below.

Dinner:

**Sauteed pear Salad with Blue Cheese and Crushed Macadamia Nuts**
**CEiMB's Baked Falafel Sandwich w/Creamy Roasted Garlic Yogurt Sauce**

**Sweet Potato French Fries Roasted with Lemon Olive Oil and a Roasted Red Pepper & Cheese Dip**

Sauteed Pear Salad

(adapted from the vanillacompany.com)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 firm-ripe Bosc pears, cored, peeled and cut into slices

2 tablespoon honey

4 cups of salad greens and/or baby spinach leaves, rinsed and chilled

1/2 cup thinly sliced cucumber

2 ounces Bleu, Gorgonzola or goat cheese

1/2 cup chopped roasted macadamia nuts

Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and allow to warm. Add pear slices and saute in oil for 2 minutes on each side. Turn off heat and drizzle honey over pear slices, and gently turn pears so that it coats them on both sides.

While pears are cooking, put greens and vegetables into a large salad bowl and mix well. Add warm pears, cheese, nuts and gently mix.


Mix salad dressing ingredients, add juices from pan and pour over salad. Serve right away. (Or you can arrange salads on each plate individually instead of mixing everything in a bowl.)

Falafel Sandwich Sauce was created by mixing 1 cup of non -fat plain Greek yogurt with 1/3 cup of Roasted Garlic Hummus and 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice. I thought this tasted pretty good.

Next change: I only baked the falafel ball for 10 minutes on each side. The comment reviews from a few other people stated 20 minutes per side may cause the falafel balls to be dry.

I used a mixed green salad combo with the tomatoes and cucumbers too. The flavor was great but the falafel balls need to be layered in the pita pocket and not all on the top, like the one I made myself. I was totally overwhelmed. Now I know.

I also wanted to share the Roasted Red Pepper-Cheese Dip. Low calorie Dip found in my Cooking Light cookbook:
Ingredients:
1 large red bell pepper
1 small onion, peeled and halved
Cooking spray
1 whole garlic head
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


Directions:
Preheat Broiler.

Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise, and discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove peel and discard. Set roasted pepper aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 400°.

Place onion halves, cut sides down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap in foil. Place garlic on baking sheet with onion. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes; turn over onion halves. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until onions are soft and begin to brown. Place onion halves on a plate. Return garlic to oven, and bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Separate the cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins.

Place roasted pepper, onion, and garlic pulp in a food processor; process until fairly smooth. Add yogurt, cheese, cumin seed, and ground red pepper; process until smooth. Spoon dip into a bowl, and stir in parsley. Cover and chill.

2 Tablespoons = 20 calories. (Great for dipping veggies in too. I used this recipe for my sweet potato FF dipping sauce.)

Thank you Elina for widening my flavor vocabulary. I really enjoyed this sandwich and loved the healthy options.

Pear Strudel with Puff Pastry

Pears seem to be the fruit underdog when so many of us think about fruit desserts. As a little girl, I remember picking pears off of Grandpa's pear tree and the fruit would be so juicy. The first BIG bite would have pear juice running down my chin on my shirt and down my arm. I would end up sticky but happy; unless there were bees close by.

When baking with any fruit, one problem coming to mind is the fruit juice making the bottom crust soggy. To remedy this problem, sprinkle a dusting of cookie, cake or bread crumbs under the filling, keeping the dough from getting soggy.

Bosc pears are the best choice for this pastry. The pear holds its' shape when baked and does not give off as much juice as other varieties, such as Comice or Anjou.

Generally, strudel is made with a thin pastry, but using puff pastry is also a fast and delicious alternative; unless you make the puff pastry from scratch. I bought puff pastry premade =)

This recipe makes 6 to 8 servings and is delicious! The Pear Strudel with Puff Pastry is an adaptation from the Kaffehaus cookbook by Rick Rodgers.

3 firm-ripe Bosc pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 T. golden rum (I used Bacardi golden rum)
1 T. fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/3 c. sugar
optional: 1/3 c. raisins (I did not add)
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 sheet of puff pastry
1/2 c. cookie, cake, or dried bread crumbs
1 large egg, beaten, for brushing
1/3 c. sliced almonds for sprinkling over the top

Directions:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 375 degrees F. Line a large sheet with parchment paper.

Toss the pears, rum, lemon juice, and zest in a medium bowl. Mix in the sugar, (optional) raisins, and cinnamon.

Roll out the dough to a 16 x 10-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface, with the long side facing you. Sprinkle the crumbs in a lengthwise, 3-inch-wide strip down the center of the dough. Heap the pear mixture over the crumbs, leaving a 3/4-inch border at the short ends. Fold the top and bottom of the pastry over to cover the pears with a 1/2-inch overlap, brushing the area under the overlap with beaten egg, and pressing the edges of the dough together to seal. Transfer the roll to the baking sheet, seam side down, curving the roll into a gentle horseshoe shape. Fold the ends under the roll. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Brush the top of the toll with the egg and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake until crisp and golden brown, about 40 minutes. Serve warm or cook to room temperature.