pork confit & black eyed pea cassoulet with honeycrisp apple & sweet potato mash

 

   

Appalachia grips me, bedevils me even, in waking dreams. It’s heady, black, and sticky sweet, tar babies and sorghum. There never seems to be enough time for the mountains though there is time, to be sure. I drove for hours through North Georgia already twice this past week, through high noon and into long shadows, making my way home squinting against oncoming headlights on the two lane highways. We explored pumpkin patches and apple orchards, drank cider and spring water, ate Ellijay apple bread, fried cream cheese hand pies & cider donuts in Blue Ridge, and cashew brittle in Dawsonville where we bought a mammoth pumpkin to honor our most beloved holiday, All Hallow's Eve. I walked over the Ocoee in half-hearted rain, the leaves beginning to fall. But it hasn’t been enough, not enough at all. Between sleep and waking I erect creekside cabins in my mind.

Time is crass. It sterilizes and homogenizes. But here, in these wild pockets of the South that are still left intact, it's been less profane. I crave being in the heart of Appalachia so much it's actually uncomfortable, a physical tugging I can feel from my sternum to the pit of my stomach. The mountains, they prey on my mind. I want to know them intimately because I want to know myself.

I spent my adolescence gazing inward wondering who am I, but the who of I lies in this place, in the narrative that drawls from Sand Mountain, where my mother's family hails from, and on through the Appalachia of my youth in North Georgia and my other half's on Monteagle Mountain. We're both from 'round here. You might not know it to look at us, but we're both quite fundamentally southern. I like to think a trained eye could spot it in our eccentricity, in his perpetual tailored slacks and my wide brimmed hats. Idiosyncrasy is a proud tradition in the south, but originality is a silly cult after all. Even in our eccentricity we're all derivative, and it’s so grand. Like it or not, roots are part of who you are. You'll find them tangled deep in your ribcage if you look. I fell into the or not category for a very long time. But now, now I find the object of my obsession and desire in my back yard, in me. This is a great gift, to want what you have and to like who you are.

And this food is part of who I am. It’s a modest take on the blue plate special, essentially a meat 'n three. It’s pork and beans, honeycrisp apple & sweet potato mash sweetened with tangy Sequatchie Cove sorghum, bacon grease cornbread, and greens. A region nor its cuisine are static things. They live and breathe. So while this is essentially classic southern food, it's also representative of the new south, which is a fantastically brave place populated by people that know how to be both fierce archivists and radical reformists at the same time. The cornbread, while made with bacon grease, is also made with cultured coconut milk (which I use about half the time now, the other half going with my trusty Cruze Farm's buttermilk). You can find the recipe here, and Arrowhead Mills makes blue cornmeal but yellow works just fine. The sorghum sauteed apples are spiced with cardamom before going into the sweet potato mash enriched with creme fraiche. The pork, a beautiful forested pork shoulder I procured from Sequatchie Cove at the market, and black eyed peas are married in a take on the French peasant classic, cassoulet, and while it will never replace slow cooked pot likker collards (or turnip greens) this quick version of greens consists of baby lettuce barely wilted in bacon grease and seasoned to taste with the classic flavors of pot likker: a little sugar, apple cider vinegar, hot sauce, and smoky pork. As a cuisine evolves the living and dead share a table. All murder ballads and white lace, Appalachia is a haunted country and it is this that I love. Us southerner’s are comfortable dining with our ghosts. We have to be.

{a belated happy Halloween & feliz Día de los Muertos from our spectral dinner table to yours}

ps. Lindsey of Maker's Workshop asked me some questions. I answered them. Verbosely, of course. Check it out here for my (maybe self-indulgent?) ramblings on everything from photography advice to records to my inspirations & obsessions.

Pork Confit and Black Eyed Pea Cassoulet With Tomato Wine Sauce

serves 7-10, recipe easily doubles

In time for both the chill and the holidays, this dish and the accompanying side are hearty & warming, equally suited for weeknight leftovers (the cassoulet makes a ton & keeps superbly) as well as a feast day spread on Thanksgiving or Christmas. This cassoulet takes some time, but if you make the confit two weeks ahead, then make the cassoulet over the course of three days, making beans the first day (though remember they need to be soaked over night when timing things), the tomato sauce the second day, and then make the cassoulet on the third day. It isn't daunting at all and is largely hands off slow cooking. Also, remember this is country food, not an exact science. Feel free to substitute various meats and cuts for the ones used here. This is just how I do it. Feel free to make it your own. Some form of these foods has been a staple on the southern holiday table for many generations. Food has the extraordinary ability to allow us to travel, to partake in a sense of place, even if we cannot physically go there, so whether you too are "from 'round here" or not, you can bring a bit of the south to your table.

For Pork Confit

adapted from Epicurious

yields about 2 cups of confit, easily doubles

*best made at least 2 weeks ahead and allowed to cure in it's own fat, but it will still be good even if made a couple of days before (which I did)

Ingredients

1/2 Tbsp kosher salt 

3 crushed bay leaves

1 tsp herbs de provence

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp chopped fresh thyme

½ tsp chopped fresh sage

¼ tsp ground coriander

pinch ground allspice

a few gratings of fresh nutmeg

2 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3" cubes, untrimmed

(note: I used a bone in and just cut the meat off)

1 onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed lightly

3 fresh thyme sprigs

about ½ a quart melted lard, enough to cover pork by 1” 

Cooking Directions

Mix first 9 ingredients in a bowl. Rub into pork, cover, and refrigerate over night and up to 24 hours. 

Heat oven to 225° F. 

Melt lard. Layer the onions, garlic, and thyme in an oven-proof pot (I used an enameled cast iron dutch oven). Layer the pork on top. Top with enough lard to cover the pork by at least an inch, cover the pan, and cook for twelve hours until the meat is very very tender. 

Strain pork, reserving the fat, and place in a container. Pour enough fat to cover the pork by one inch and chill. 

Allow to cure in it's fat for two weeks if possible before using. If not possible, go ahead and use it. It will still be lovely. Rewarm and strain pork before using. Reserve at least 1/4 cup of the fat from the confit for your cassoulet.

For Beans

Ingredients

1 lb dried black eyed peas

6 sprigs parsley

3 large sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

6 whole peppercorns

5 coriander seeds

a few whole cloves (2-3)

1 medium carrot

1 stalk celery

½ a medium onion

½ head of garlic, intact

1 smoked ham hock

1 4 oz piece seasoned pork side meat (I used Goodnight Brother's ) (salt pork or uncured pork belly also work, adjust seasoning accordingly)

1 tsp kosher salt or to taste

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

healthy pinch cayenne

Cooking Directions

Pick over beans and rinse. Cover beans with cold water and let soak over night. 

Drain beans and place in a fresh pot. Make a bouquet garni by tying the parsley, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, coriander seeds, and cloves in cheese cloth with kitchen twine. Coarsely chop the carrot and celery and slice the onion thick. Add the bouquet and chopped vegetable and half head of garlic to the pot along with the ham hock and side meat. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, stir in salt, pepper, and cayenne, cover, and cook until beans are just tender, about 1 hour. 

When beans are tender, drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Set aside the garlic, hock, and side meat. Discard the bouquet and vegetables.

Remove the cloves from their skin and puree with one ounce of the side meat with the skin removed. Reserve for tomato sauce. 

For Tomato Wine Sauce

adapted from Epicurious

1 28 oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes

3 Tbsp olive oil 

2 cups chopped onions, divided 

4 large fresh thyme sprigs

3 garlic cloves, peeled and quartered

1 bay leaf

1 oil packed anchovy fillet

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp sweet paprika 

1 cup white wine

1 cup reserved bean cooking liquid
reserved side meat garlic puree

Split and seed the tomatoes. Chop and reserve the juices from the can. Heat the 2 Tbsp oil and add the tomatoes, 1 cup of the onions, thyme, garlic, bay leaf, anchovy, salt, and paprika. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until reduced to 2 cups. 

Remove bay leaf and thyme stems (keeping the thyme leaves). Puree sauce by either passing through a food mill, in a blender (or w/ an immersion blender), or a food processor. Set aside.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil. Add the other cup of chopped onions and cook until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add wine and boil until reduced by half. Add cup of bean cooking liquid. Simmer 15 minutes. Add reserved tomato sauce and side meat garlic puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Can be made a day or two in advance.

For Cassoulet

Ingredients

the cooked black eyed peas

strained confit

1/4 reserved confit fat

reserved ham hock

one ounce reserved side meat, no skin

2 slices bacon

3 1/2 cups of tomato wine sauce

3 toulouse style sausages

1 cup course bread crumbs or panko

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)
remainder of reserved bean cooking liquid

Cooking Directions

Cook sausages until brown and cooked through, slice, and set aside. Fry bacon, chop, and set aside. Dice the side meat into 1/2 inch cubes and fry until crispy and golden. Pick the meat off the ham hock.

Heat oven to 350° F.

Taste the beans for seasoning. Add a little salt if necessary, keeping in mind that you will be adding salt via the meat, tomato sauce, and cooking liquid as well. In a heavy bottomed cast iron pot, layer some of the beans. Top with some of the slices of sausage, some confit, ham hock meat, bacon, and side meat cracklins. Ladle some of the tomato sauce over it. Repeat this until you have used all of your beans, meat, and sauce ending on a layer of beans. Pour enough of the bean cooking liquid over the cassoulet to just cover the beans. Reserve any left over cooking liquid for remoistening cassoulet as needed during the cooking process and for leftovers.

Mix bread crumbs and parsley. Set aside.

Bake cassoulet for one hour, uncovered. Remove cassoulet from oven and gently stir in any skin that has formed. Top with 1/2 cup of the parsley bread crumbs and drizzle with 1/8 cup of the reserved confit fat. Reduce heat to 250°F and bake for another hour. Break crust, gently stirring in, moistening with about 1/4 cup of cooking liquid if necessary. You ultimately want the cassoulet to be creamy, not soupy or dry. Top with the other half of bread crumbs and fat. Turn the oven back up to 350° F and bake until creamy, the crust is golden brown, and it's very hot.

Honeycrisp Apple & Sweet Potato Mash

serves 8-10

Ingredients

4 sweet potatoes (I like to use white sweet potatoes when I can find them)
4 Honeycrisp apples (or other tart, firm apples like Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and diced
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch cayenne
1/4 cup sorghum
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
1/2 cup creme fraiche (more to taste if you're feeling decadent!)
about 1/4-1/2 cup whole milk, as needed
kosher salt to taste
olive oil

Cooking Directions

Heat oven to 450° F.

Rub sweet potatoes with olive oil and roast on a sheet pan lined with foil for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until very soft all the way through.

Meanwhile melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the apples along with a pinch of kosher salt. Add the cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne and sauté until soft. When apples are softened add sorghum and stir to fully incorporate. Add orange blossom water and continue to sauté until very soft and browning. (note: these apples would be amazing in an array of baked goods and the puree itself is like the best apple sauce ever. I can think of about 101 uses for them... they're so good!)

Puree apple mixture until smooth and set aside.

Scoop the flesh out of the roasted sweet potatoes and pass through a potato ricer or food mill and into a pot. If you don't own a potato ricer you can use a potato masher or even a fork, it just won't be as smooth.

Stir the apple puree into the mashed sweet potatoes. Stire in the creme fraiche. Add milk as needed to reach your desired consistency. Season to taste with salt. I often pass this mixture through the ricer again to ensure a smooth consistency.

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