I made something called cassoulet a few months ago, which really wasn't casoulet because cassoulet is called cassoulet for the pot it's cooked in, which happens to be called a cassole. I don't have one. I'll call it a stew. How's that?
Today I made a "stew", which I'm tempted to call Dark Horse Cassoulet, but I'll call it Dark Horse Stew. I call it Dark Horse Stew because it's made with this dark beer of the same name sans the stew and it happens to be amazing! It's a dark Danish beer brewed in Oerbaek on the Island of Fyn. People on Fyn tend to be friendly so maybe I should call it Friendly Stew instead! I'll just stick with Dark Horse because it sounds cooler and works for this. I'll save "friendly" for another recipe.
This hearty stew of the day started with some leftover chicken fat and some olive oil in a pot. In went some lamb in one pot and some large bacon pieces into another. The meat browned on both sides and the lamb went into a bowl off to the side for a bit. In went garlic, chili pepper and onion into the lamb pot along with some dried licorice sausage I'd been saving for just the proper occasion. The bacon remained in the other pot and in went white beans I soaked over night with water. NO SALT at this point.
The lamb went in over the garlic and stuff along with some of the bacon from the bean pot and in went a large bottle of dark horse beer. Covered it and let braise for a while. Meanwhile the beans cooked away on simmer.
After about an hour or two the beans got soft and salt was added. Then the 2 pots merged ingredients and continued to cook in two pots. Beans and all the meat married and lived happily ever after.
After about another hour came some happy potatoes to join the love. Why the hell not?
In the end the beautiful stew thickened from split beans and the lamb was falling with joy off of the bone. The bacon smoked it's way throughout the dish and all the ingredients enjoyed an orgy of flavor into one pot.
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