Pork Cassoulet & Di Sipo Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo ’13
This is an instance where I wanted to try a wine, and selected a dish that I thought would work. No need for suspense. The cassoulet hit the mark for the Cerasuolo. There are any number of variations for cassoulet. It’s a French “country” stew composed of cuts of pork, sausages, duck confit and white beans. I was looking for a recipe that would shorten the hours of cooking time most of the recipes required. And I found one, only 45 minutes. That’s 45 minutes for someone else! From start to finish I was thru in under 90 minutes, and into my second glass of wine!
A great call for wine would have been something from Alsace or the Rhine. Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris. But I wanted to try this wine from Abruzzo. Cerasuolo is a treasured “bistro & café’” wine from Italy’s Abruzzo. It is a Rosé of Montepulciano, and it gets its name from its distinctive cherry hue. This is unlike any other Rosé I have ever had. Richer and more complex in both scent and flavor than the Rosés that I so enjoy from Provence. In every manner this wine behaves like a light flavorful red. I couldn’t have asked for a better wine to enjoy with the cassoulet. I thrust the bottle into the snow on my deck for 15 minutes and the wine had a perfect chill.
Di Sipo Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo ‘13 (Abruzzo, Italy)
A bright cherry red, deeper in hue due to the depth of color in Mlontepulciano’s grape skins. Full and intense aroma of berries, wild strawberries, cherries but with a layering of almonds and garden herbs. Transition from scent to palate is seamless. Beautiful red fruit, softened by a subtle earthiness. Silky, with a fresh dry finish. Good length, and a palate cleansing level of acidity. Great wine to enjoy on its own merit or with food!
Ingredients:
6 ounces of Tanqueray Gin
½ ounce of Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth
3 Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives
A Goodly amount of Ice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cans (15oz) cannellini beans, rinsed & drained
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1” chunks
12 oz kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced ¼” thick
1 onion chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp minced fresh thyme
1 can (14.50z) diced tomatoes
Directions:
1. Put gin and vermouth into a glass pitcher, fill with ice, stir vigorously while incanting, “You who know all, thank you for providing us juniper and all the obscure ingredients responsible for creating this sacred liquid!” Strain into a pre-frozen Martini glass of admirable size. Skewer the olives on one of those tacky cocktail swords, place in glass. Immediately begin consuming. Now you can begin the food prep, and the cooking!
2. Process 1 1/2 cups of beans and 1 cup of broth in a blender ’til smooth, about 10 seconds; set aside.
3. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat ’til just smoking. Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Brown pork on all sides, about 8 minutes; transfer to bowl.
4. Add sausage and onion to Dutch oven and cook over medium heat ’til onion softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook ’til fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in remaining 1 cup of broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in tomatoes, pureed beans and remaining beans and simmer ’til slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in browned pork, along with any accumulating juices, into stew and cook ’til heated thru, about 2 minutes. About 2 minutes. Serve.
n.b. Cassoulet is sometimes prepared with a bread crumb topping, or with croutons. I sliced a baguette into 1/2” slices, shmeared garlic butter on both sides, and fried the slices in a skillet to make garlic toasts.