I read the intro and am liking what Bittman wrote. He's promoting reducing meat and dairy intake and increasing vegetables in recipes, something that I've been doing for years already. And here it is, a cookbook that already does it for me. Plus all the recipes are already tested. Score!
For my 1st try from the book, I choose Cassoulet. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, doing the slow-cooked version, which means that I used dried beans and simmer them for an hour with the sausages.
Some modification that I made - intentionally or otherwise:
- I used 2 chicken sausages and 1 pork sausage.
- The recipe said to use 2 zucchini or 1 head of cabbage. I used both. Why not :).
- I used dry thyme and parsley instead of fresh.
- I forgot bay leaves and cayenne pepper. Glad I forgot cayenne pepper as it has enough kick from the 2 spicy sausages.
Tasting impressions:
So good! The beans were tender and sweet and I love all the veggie in there. I've been bringing it to lunch the last 2 days and looked forward to eating it (okay, maybe I'm also feeling bored at work this week). It's the perfect lunch for the winter!
You can find the recipe here on Bittman's website.
