A Moral Dilemna

Is it right to fool with tradition?

For instance, cassoulet is a wonderful dish from Toulouse and Carcassone in Southwest France that is made of white beans and roasted meats, such as pork, mutton, sausages, bacon, goose and duck. Naturally, something this delicious should cook for four to five hours, not counting the twelve hours needed for the beans to soak overnight.

Seventeen hours... a full day really, to produce a dish full of flavor and tradition.

Or... maybe

Twenty minutes to pre-cook the beans in the pressure cooker, ten minutes to prep and assemble the other ingredients, chicken (I had no duck handy... but this is a dish that varies from village to village, so I think that I am safe on that account), smoked sausage, garlic, green onions, bay, thyme, rosemary, celery tomatoes (canned, diced and sun dried for different flavors), bacon (nature's candy!). I returned the beans to the pot with these ingredients, some home made beef stock (I used up the chicken... must make more this weekend) and turned the Mimi on low pressure for 15 minutes.

Within an hour... Voilà! Semi-authentic Cassoulet.

Now, I am almost afraid of what other long cooking dishes I can accomplish in an hour. And is it the right thing to do? Well, it is certainly delicious!

Good Luck Feast

New Years Eve has traditionally been a meal where people try to gather good luck for the next year... traditionally (and ironically across cultures) food items that are round (like coins), golden (like... duh, gold) and green (American dollars or the color of the rebirth of the earth) have been considered good luck. Herring is often considered good luck as well... at least it was according to my Bohemian Grandfather, but frankly, I can't work myself up to needing this kind of luck.

Our menu selections?

Filet Mignon with a mushroom sauce (both the mushrooms and filets are round representing coins)
Cheddar cheese risotto (golden color)
Asparagus (green the color or rebirth)
Garbanzo bean salad (golden and round!)

The good thing that I can report was that the meal was delicious and that the broth for both the sauce and the risotto as well as the garbanzos were all prepared in the Mimi!

Oh, and the grownups had some champagne too! And yes, it was really champagne... it came from the Champagne region of France... I know the difference....

Happy New Year!