Monday Mouthful: Cassoulet

It's now Thursday, and I'm just able to get to the most recent Monday Mouthful challenge, Cassoulet. I was super excited to try this out when ChefE chose it, but the fates were conspiring against me. I had houseguests for ten days, and at first I thought it would be perfect for guests...until I realized that my sister-in-law doesn't like legumes. On Sunday night, I was in a little panic, and finally decided to make a small batch and feed her something else. But then Monday was a holiday here, which means everything is closed. Since then, I just haven't had time to make this. Until today.

I'm so glad I did! I wasn't sure how I'd make it. My husband has been really busy at work, and that means I'm the main caregiver during the day for my three-year-old daughter, which in turn means that I'm not at liberty to make anything that takes a lot of hands-on time. Couple that with the fact that we've eaten a ton of poultry in the last week and a half because the other houseguest didn't eat red meat, and so I wasn't so excited about another dish with poultry.


I consulted marmiton.org, a French recipe site, to see what it had to offer in the ways of cassoulet, and combined several recipes for what you find below. I'm claiming it as mine. I settled for two types of sausages common in France: the chipolata and the saucisson à l'ail (smoked garlic sausage). If you're not in France, both can be subsituted with your favorite smoked and unsmoked sausages. Also, feel free to throw in some duck (which is common in cassoulet) or even some chicken. Mutton is also an option.

This dish is warming and flavorful, and is easily adapted to what you have on hand. It will definitely make my winter-time repertoire!

Mindy's Cassoulet

A little less than 1/2 pound of bacon, cut into matchsticks
Olive oil
1 pound of tomatoes, or 1 14.5 oz can tomato puree
2 small leeks, cut in half and sliced
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1 bouquet garni
4 chipolata sausages (or another type of uncooked sausage)
1 smoked garlic sausage (or other type of smoked sausage), sliced
Pepper to taste

In a large heavy pot, cook the bacon in a tiny bit of olive oil until crispy and remove from the pot. While the bacon is cooking, boil water in a small pot. Cut an "X" at the bottom of each tomato and place in the boiling water for one minute. Remove and plunge into cold water. When cool enough to handle, remove the skins, cut into quarters and puree in a food processor or blender. Set aside.

When the bacon is done and removed, add the vegetables and cook for a few minutes until the onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add a little oil if it seems dry. Add the reserved bacon, tomato puree, beans, bouquet garni and sausages. Add enough water to almost cover the mixture. Add some pepper and mix.

Cook on low heat for two hours. If it doesn't seem thick enough for you after about 1 1/2 hours, uncover and simmer until thickened. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

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A Lovely Yellow Saffron Chicken

What? Were you expecting a Monday Mouthful entry instead of Saffron chicken? Or maybe you had high expectations and thought you might see the Monday Mouthful entry on Monday?! I'm getting to it...a little later than planned, but in the next couple of days, I promise! In the meantime, head on over to ChefE's Duck Duck Goose Cassoulet or My Carolina Kitchen's Black-Eyed Pea and Chicken Cassoulet and prepare to drool.

I do have a yummy recipe to share while you're waiting breathlessly for my version of cassoulet, though: Saffron Chicken from Giada De Laurentiis' Giada's Kitchen. (I actually think she calls it "Chicken Scaloppine with Saffron Cream Sauce," but I've decided that the title is too long.) You can see below for the recipe, which is pretty tasty, but I think next time I would add some olives to the mix to add a little more flavor to the subtleness of the saffron and cream.


Luckily, I thought the flavors sounded a little Spanish (Saffron will always equal Spain to me), so I bought some small black olives and Quark- and herb-stuffed peppers at a German grocery store to go along with it. It was delicious! So, all in all, this was a good, solid recipe that can withstand some stronger flavors along side or even in the dish itself.

Saffron Chicken
from Giada De Laurentiis' Giada's Kitchen

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound thin chicken cutlets (or chicken breasts pounded thin)
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning meat
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning meat
2 shallots, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (optional)

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken until golden and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a serving plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the shallots and garlic, and cook until tender, about 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine is almost evaporated. Add the chicken broth and saffron threads, bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, or until reduced by half. Add the cream, salt, and pepper to the skillet and stir to combine.

Simmer for 1 minute to blend the flavors. Pour the sauce over the chicken. (Or in my case, I slid the chicken back into the sauce to reheat and absorb some of that lovely sauce until my pasta was ready.) Sprinkle with the parsley if desired and serve immediately.

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Monday Mouthful: Olé Olé, Cassoulet!

Okay, so I'm mixing my cultures here, but I am excited to make our next Monday Mouthful dish: cassoulet! I love that ChefE over at Cook Appeal has chosen this dish, as I haven't had the chance to tackle it yet...and I only have a few weeks left in France! I found a recipe on the Food & Wine website if you're interested in seeing a time-intensive recipe, but I'm sure that I'll be making the two-year-old-friendly version (which in my world equals a much shorter cooking time). I'll be on the lookout for a recipe, so if you have a good one, please let me know!

We'll be posting about our cassoulet adventures on Monday, June 1st. As always, if you'd like to participate, then drop me an email with the link to your post!

Also, please check out ChefE's sweet version of spaetzle (our last Monday Mouthful challenge)--it looks delicious!

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Monday Mouthful: Spaetzle with Meatballs and Mustard Cream Sauce

Okay, I confess. When I decided that we'd make spaetzle for the current Monday Mouthful challenge with ChefE over at Cook Appeal, I already had a dish in mind. One of my favorite restaurants in Strasbourg is La Corde à Linge, which specializes in spaetzle dishes (although I've already mentioned it here before regarding their delicious desserts). Usually, spaetzle is considered a side dish, but at La Corde à Linge, it becomes the main attractions. All of their dishes start with either the traditional spaetzle (which is what this recipe is based on) or a potato version, paired with a meat or veggies, and some sort of finger-licking sauce.

One of my favorites is the meatball and mustard cream sauce spaetzle--the dish I tried to recreate. I don't often cook without a recipe at all (although I often deviate from the ones I do use), and so this was a real challenge for me, trying to recreate a restaurant dish. And it was successful! I think I hit the mustard cream sauce almost exactly, and the meatballs were close, but I still have a little work to do on those. The spaetzle turned out tender and flavorful...and they were surprisingly easy to make, if a little time consuming. You can find the recipe here, but I documented some of the steps below for those of you who may be a little reticent to try making your own noodles.

I'll post a round-up and the next challenge separately, so keep an eye out! (It might be a little late as I am taking a short vacation to Zurich, Switzerland this week!) Okay, so on to the spaetzle...

Before starting, put a pot of water on to boil. After making the dough (to which I had to add a little more water than called for, but only took about five minutes to throw together), break a small piece off (about a quarter of the dough) and smash it flat with your hands to about 1/4-1/2" thickness. It doesn't matter if it's round--you'll just be cutting pieces off of it.


With a sharp knife, scrape pieces off of the dough. You can make them any size you want...I stayed rustic and made them in whatever size came off of the knife.

I scraped them off in batches because you shouldn't have more than one layer in the boiling water at a time. I found that the spaetzle was ready in about five minutes. So, while one batch was boiling, I'd scrape off the next batch. I set up a colander over a paper towel, and used a slotted spoon to remove the cooked spaetzle from the water to the colander. I drizzled just the tiniest bit of olive oil over the noodles, and mix them up with each batch I added to keep them from sticking together.

After boiling them all, I fried them in some butter and pepper. My frying stage was the least successful since I tried to fry them at high heat at first, but it turns out that they fry better at a gentle heat.


After they were done frying, I plated them up with the meatballs and mustard cream sauce! (See below for the recipe for the mustard sauce...I'll post the meatball one when I'm completely happy with it.) I do have to say, though, that I will definitely be making these again...

Mustard Cream Sauce
adapted from Recipezaar

1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used an Alsatian Riesling.)
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
A couple of grinds of pepper

Bring cream to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat, and cook, whisking often, 10 minutes. Whisk in wine , mustard, and pepper, and cook until thoroughly heated.

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Monday Mouthful Roundup and the Next Challenge: Spaetzle

Last week's French challenge for Monday Mouthful, as you know from my previous post, was Champignons de Paris (or mushrooms). Go check out ChefE's Crepe Suzette 'Champignons' for another delicious take on champignons à la française...

The next challenge is something that you can find at almost every German restaurant (and certainly at every Alsatian one)--Spaetzle. Spaetzle is a German noodle that is often served as a side dish and fried up after boiled. We often buy premade Spaetzle, and just last week my husband fried some up with a little butter, bacon, onion and parmesan cheese, but we've been wanting to make this noodle from scratch for a while now. Please join us in the next challenge! Because weekly challenges can be a little demanding, we've decided to make this an every-other-week thing, so you''l have two weeks to try this recipe. (We'll post on Monday, May 18th.) And as always, email me or ChefE with a link to your post.

Spaetzle
Recipe from The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Authentic German Cooking by Mimi Sheraton
Makes about 4 cups Spaetzle, or about 6 servings.

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, well beaten
1/4 to 3/4 cup water

Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Add egg and mix. Add water gradually until batter is stiff but smooth. Press dough flat on a plate or floured board. With a sharp knife, scrape small pieces of dough off and drop into boiling salted water. There should be only one layer of Spaetzle at a time in cooking water. Boil gently 5 to 8 minutes, or
until you try a few and find them done. Remove from water with perforated spoon and drain.

Spaetzle may be served in pea, lentil or tomato soups, or as a side dish with meat or game. In the latter case, hot melted butter is usually poured over them just before serving. They may also be sauteed in butter until a bright golden color. Toasted breadcrumbs or grated Parmesan cheese may also be sprinkled over them.

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Monday Mouthful: Couscous aux Champignons

I have a confession to make. I don't like mushrooms. I've never liked them, and I probably never will. The combination of earthy flavor mixed with the weird spongy texture just doesn't do it for me. So you'll be surprised that I'm posting a mushroom recipe. Why is that? Well, it's Monday Mouthful and ChefE over at Cook Appeal chose mushrooms as our ingredient this week, and I never told her that I didn't like mushrooms--I was just too embarrassed to tell her (or anyone in the culinary world) that I detest those funghi. Before today, I've never even cooked a mushroom since my husband shares this dislike with me. I agonized all week about what I was going to do about this, and had even considered making cupcakes shaped like mushrooms, but that just isn't in the spirit of Monday Mouthful at all, so I didn't do it.

Then my husband invited a student and her visiting brother over for dinner, and I thought, "Aha! I can make them eat the mushrooms! Mwahahaha..." Luckily, I had already planned on making chicken en papillote with some couscous on the side, so I decided to make two couscouses: a plain one for my husband and me and one with sauteed mushrooms for the unwitting visitors. And I justified this use in couscous by telling myself that couscous is actually a very common French food because of the strong Algerian influence in the country. I think with this version, it would be very easy to add any dried (or fresh) herbs of your choice--thyme or herbes de provence would probably be tasty--but I wanted a clean taste to go with the chicken, so only added parsley.

It turns out that only the brother and my daughter ate any of the couscous, but both had second helpings, so I assume it tasted good. I sent the leftovers home with the brother, and he seemed happy to take them. Phew! I was able to make mushrooms, not have to eat them, send the leftovers away, and be able to post this with only hours to spare. I am superwoman.

Couscous aux Champignons


1 Tbl butter
1 cup chopped various mushrooms (I used oyster, crimini and something that was called "Champignon de Paris.")
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups couscous
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper
handful of freshly chopped parsley

Melt the butter in a saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds until it starts to soften, but don't let it brown. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5-10 minutes until the mushrooms have softened. Add the stock and a small handful of chopped parsley and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the couscous, salt and pepper to taste, and cover the pot and remove it from the heat. Let it sit for 5 minutes, add another small handful of parsley, and fluff with a fork.

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Monday Mouthful--Flammekueche Roundup and Next Week's Challenge

This week's Monday Mouthful challenge was Flammekueche, and I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. I was a little fearful because although the recipe came from a trustworthy source, I had never made it before. I decided to go the traditional route because 1) I like traditional Flammekueche and 2) I forgot to get the fruit to make the dessert one! Good thing, though that I forgot the fruit because the entire two "pies" were eaten up at dinner. I did make one minor change and used red onions instead of the typical yellow onions--because I used up all the yellow ones the night before! I think I prefer yellow onions, but this was still tasty and very close to what I've had in restaurants here in Strasbourg. The only changes I'd make would be to roll out the crust a little more and season the crème fraiche a little more heavily for added flavor. If you weren't able to participate, I encourage you to try this...it's a great and easy alternative to pizza and would make some fabulous hors d'oeuvres.


Thanks to the other bloggers who participated this week! Please take a look at their takes on the traditional Alsatian dish--their submissions all had me drooling!

The Daily Spud--True to form, The Daily Spud made a lovely potato Flammekueche, which elicited an excited, "Wow! That looks good!" from my husband.

ChefE at CookAppeal--ChefE, as always, took the recipe a couple of steps further and added some beer to the crust and asparagus to both her "pie" and to her Flammekueche calzones...yummm!

And ChefE has announced next week's French challenge...Champignons de Paris! This challenge will be left open to your imagination, so we're looking for dishes (hopefully French ones!) that use mushrooms or are served with a mushroom sauce. If you haven't had a chance to join us yet, please feel free to jump in whenever! As always, if you participate, please email your link to me at mindysmouthful(at)gmail(dot)com or ChefE at elizabeth(at)cookappeal(dot)com! We'll post our results, your links, and the next challenge on Monday.

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Food Challenges and Adopt-a-Blogger #3

I meant to mention this a while back, but Lori over at Fake Food Free is hosting a "Mango Recipe Challenge," so head on over and check it out! (But don't enter because I want that basket of Brazilian goodies all to myself! ;-) Just kidding...) Lori has a great blog that focuses on healthy eating and her experience with food while living abroad. Go check it out!


The second food challenge is mine (but I don't have a snazzy button like Lori does...maybe I'll have to make one!) As mentioned previously, ChefE at CookAppeal and I are hosting a French/German recipe challenge. While we don't have any special goodies to give away, we'd love for you to join in the fun and try some (hopefully) new recipes from French and German cultures. We'll be doing this for the next few weeks, so feel free to join in one or all Monday Mouthfuls! We'll be posting our results of our Flammekueche attempts this Monday, so email me at mindysmouthful(at)gmail(dot)com or ChefE at elizabeth(at)cookappeal(dot)com with a link to your blog post (or pictures and story if you don't have a blog).

And finally, I've been adopted! That is, through Dine and Dish's Adopt-a-Blogger program. As a newbie food blogger, I've been matched with Kathy over at Panini Happy and Cooking on the Side. I'm so excited because I've already been following both of Kathy's blogs and love them! Go check them out...


Thanks to Kristen over at Dine and Dish for organizing this--she has an incredible 114 bloggers participating in this event!

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Monday Mouthful Roundup and Next Week's Challenge: Flammekueche

Thanks to all who participated in Monday Mouthful this week! Please check out the following bloggers who whipped up the Rustic French Meatloaf at a moment's notice:**

Mindy at, well, um, this blog made a Rustic Alsatian Meatloaf.

ChefE at CookAppeal made lovely little Rustic Mini French Pâté Loaves. They're so cute and look delicious with the addition of a vintage tomato jelly.

Greg at Sippity Sup made the most beautiful Terrine de Campagne. His French terrine mold is going onto my Amazon wishlist ASAP!

**Please check back in case there were any late entries! :-) And please feel free to join in any of the Monday Mouthful adventures! Just email me at mindysmouthful(at)gmail(dot)com or ChefE at elizabeth(at)cookappeal(dot)com with a link to your entry (or for non-bloggers, let me know, and we'll work something out!)

And for the big reveal (drum roll, please): Next week we'll be making Flammekueche! This is a typical Alsatian dish which is served literally everywhere in Alsace. I'm cheating a little because it's a little German and a little French...just like Alsace. (If you'd like to know a little more about the region, check out my previous post.) This tasty pizza-like dish, made with a very, very thin crust and topped with all sorts of things, both savory and sweet. I've chosen the most typical recipe, the traditional flammekueche (or tarte flambée in French), which is topped with crème fraîche, bacon and onions. You can make the recipe below or be as creative as you'd like. It can be served as an appetizer, main dish, or if sweet, even as dessert. (One of my favorites around here is a pear and dark chocolate flammekueche.) It's traditionally baked in a wood-fired oven, so if you have one of those laying around, feel free to bake it in there! (Otherwise, you can just use the oven like most of the rest of us...)

Feel free to google either "flammekueche" or "tarte flambée" to get a sense for what this actually looks like--there weren't any images that I felt comfortable putting on here as an example, but there are plenty out there.

Flammekueche or Tarte Flambée
from Petit Recueil de la Gastronomie Alsacienne: 75 Recettes Simples by Marguerite Doerflinger

1 recipe Flammekueche dough (See below)
2 large onions, diced or sliced thinly
1 2/3 cups crème fraîche (if you can’t find this in the grocery store, you can make your own or use good quality heavy cream)--This seems like a lot to me, so you might start at a little less than this and go from there...
At least 3 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into matchsticks (or 60g lardons fumés)
1 Tbl rapeseed or canola oil
Salt, pepper, nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 450F/230C/Th. 8.

Roll out the dough until it is very thin in a rectangular shape and place it on a pizza stone or cookie sheet sprinkled with a little flour or cornmeal to prevent sticking. Season the cream with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Cover the dough with the onions, bacon, and cream. Drizzle the mixture with the oil. When the oven is completely hot, place the flammekueche in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the crust is very crispy and lightly browned.

Flammekueche dough
from Marmiton
Should make enough for two flammekuechen

2 cups flour
3 Tbl olive oil
Pinch of salt
½ cup warm water

Mix all of the ingredients together until it creates a dough. That’s it!

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Monday Mouthful--Rustic "Alsatian" Meatloaf

What, I'm not making the Rustic "French" Loaf that all of the rest of you made?! Well, yes, technically I am, but I added a little Alsatian twist to it, as you'll see later.

As you all may know, I am living in Strasbourg, France for one year (which will be up in 2 1/2 months!). ChefE over at CookAppeal asked us to introduce an appropriate cultural word when blogging about our French/German cooking, so I'm going one step further and introducing you to a whole region: Alsace. It's not a region that many people have heard of, and a region that not many Americans visit, which is such a shame. Alsace has a rocky history, and has changed hands many times over the last few centuries between France and Germany. In fact, the Alsatian language--Elsässerditsch--more closely resembles German than French.

Alsace was briefly under Nazi control from 1940-44, but has been under French control since the Treaty of Versailles in 1918. The Arc de Triomphe in Paris even has a plaque to commemorate Alsace's return to France:


Strasbourg, in particular, is a beautiful and important city, culturally, politically, and economically. You can read all about the city on Wikipedia, but if you ever get to this part of the country, stop by! Here are a few pictures of the city I have come to love:

And finally, on to the food! I adapted the meatloaf recipe ever so slightly to make it more "Alsatian." Instead of chicken livers, I used local foie gras de canard. Alsace is known for its foie gras, so I thought that if I was going to use liver, I might as well use the good stuff! This meatloaf is definitely decadent--all of us really liked it, even my daughter who notoriously has to be bribed to eat her meat! You could definitely taste the foie, and although I thought it was a little weird to add prunes and pistachios, they both added a nice, fresh flavor to the otherwise rich loaf. This was an ugly loaf, though...I think that the addition of parsley is to cover the unappetizing top rather than to add flavor. I served it with mashed potatoes and red wine, garlic and pistachio broccoli.

I'm sure I'll be making this again, but I may have to substitute some of the ingredients to make it more wallet-friendly...

Rustic "Alsatian" Meatloaf
adapted from Epicurious

1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a rustic loaf)
1/2 cup skim milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pound foie gras de canard
3/4 pound ground pork
3/4 pound ground veal
1/4 cup chopped prunes
1/4 cup shelled pistachios, toasted
1 teaspoons dried thyme
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Accompaniment: Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 475°F with rack in middle.

Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl.

Cook onion, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.

Add foie, pork, veal, prunes, pistachios, thyme, eggs, bread-crumb mixture, onion mixture, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and gently mix with your hands until just combined.

Transfer meatloaf mixture to an 81/2- by 41/2-inch glass loaf pan and bake, covered with foil, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 165°F, 50 to 55 minutes. (If using a metal pan, it may need to cook 15 minutes longer.) Let rest 5 minutes. Cover top of meatloaf with parsley before slicing.

We had some of the leftovers in a meatloaf sandwich with Dijon mustard for lunch today, and it sure was yummy!

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An Invitation to Join in the French/German Fun

Earlier in the week, ChefE over at CookAppeal used "Monday Mouthful" as a title to a post, and jokingly, I asked her if I could steal the phrase sometime (when I could muster up the creativity for a themed weekly post). She so graciously agreed, and then suggested something better...a weekly recipe that we could work on together. It got even better when she suggested that we open it up to other readers!

So, we'll be cooking some French and German dishes over the next few weeks, alternating between the two. ChefE has chosen the first recipe, and we will all post on Monday (and reveal the next recipe then too). This is not a contest, nor is participation mandatory. If you feel like joining in for one recipe or all, please do!

For details and this week's recipe (French meatloaf like you've never seen it before), go to CookAppeal. And make sure to email ChefE at elizabeth@cookappeal.com with your post information so we can link it to Monday Mouthful!

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