Dinner party number one

We got married.

I baked the cakes!

Wedding cake table

There was a honeymoon. Immediately followed by major flat renovations, turning our kitchen into a lovely space. 

Which was followed by the news that we’ll be moving to Singapore in August. 

Immediately followed by repeatedly having dinner parties so we can get good use out of the new flat while we slowly start saying goodbye to friends and family.

There are some rules for the dinner parties: they must involve red meat or pork sausages, wine, and dairy products (ice cream, custards, cream, cheese, anything), all things that are apparently available but insanely expensive in Singapore. Luckily it’s winter here, so the rules work with the weather. Not so much with what we’ll be wearing once we get to Singapore, but that’s a worry for another day.

This was our first dinner party menu:

Some leftover wedding bubbles (this despite earnest attempts on my part to make sure it was all drunk during the wedding reception)

Cheat’s cassoulet, meaning herby sausage, bacon and bean casserole with breadcrumbs on top

Crusty bread

Green salad

Sundaes made with sautéed apple slices, hot boozy caramel sauce and salty-sweet toasted pecan nuts

Ready to eat

I forgot to take any pictures of the food properly, other than the two badly-lit photos shown here. It's all for the best, though; cassoulet doesn’t look like much when dished up, being a mish-mosh of beans, sausage, bacon chunks and breadcrumbs. But it is delicious!

Crumbs! They weren't red in real life.

Cheat’s cassoulet

Makes about 6 servings

200g smoked lardons (I bought a big thick chunk of bacon and cut it up myself)

An onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

8 good quality, herby pork sausages (or not pork; but why not?)

½ bottle red wine (plus more, if you like, which I do)

250ml crushed tinned tomatoes

750ml chicken stock

Few sprigs of thyme

Sprig of rosemary

A bay leaf

3 cups cooked white beans (preferably cooked at home, i.e. not from a tin)

1 medium loaf of white bread (such as baguette), stale and processed into crumbs

Preheat the oven to 160 C. Heat some butter over medium heat in a large, heavy-based cast iron dish and add the lardons, sautéing until you’ve rendered a lot of the fat. Remove the lardons with a slotted spoon, leaving all the fat in the pan, and add the onion. Saute for a few minutes, add the carrots and celery and sauté for a further ten minutes until the vegetables are all softened. Add the garlic and sauté for a further two minutes, add the wine and simmer for about five minutes. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf and stir, then tip in the beans and sausages and cover the casserole with a lid or foil. 

Slide the dish into the oven. Cook the casserole for two hours, then cook uncovered for a further hour. When I remove the cover, I add more wine, but that’s optional; you can add more water or stock instead if you feel it’s getting too dry. There should be quite a lot of liquid, since the breadcrumb topping will soak up a lot of the liquid, so use your judgement adding sufficient liquid.

Remove the casserole from the oven, taste and season. I find that it doesn’t need much salt because of all the bacon, but it does need lots of freshly ground black pepper. I also add quite a big glug of red wine vinegar to brighten it up, but that’s optional. Once the seasoning is perfect, spread the breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole and return to the even for another 30-45 minutes. The breadcrumbs should be golden and crunchy on top, and soaked full of the delicious juices on the bottom.

Serve in bowls alongside sturdy bread for scooping and a green salad for palate-cleansing.