Name: Lobster and Mussel Cassoulet (Cassoulet de Homard et de Moules)
Yield: Makes 4 Main-Course Servings
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 2 pounds small cultivated mussels, clams, or cockles, scrubbed and rinsed; 1 medium-size onion, peeled (for the beans), plus 1 (for the lobster), chopped fine; 3 tablespoons butter, melted; 1 cup [45 g] fresh bread crumbs, or 4 slices fresh dense-crumb white bread turned into bread crumbs; 2 cups [450 ml] chicken or fish broth or water, or more as needed; 2 lobsters (1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds [565 to 675 g] each); 1 clove garlic, chopped fine; 2 tablespoons olive oil; ½ cup [125 ml] Cognac or good brandy; 4 tomatoes, chopped, or 2 cups drained canned tomatoes (a 28-ounce [795-g] can); 1 cup [250 ml] dry white wine; 1 small bouquet garni; 2 cups (about 1 pound [450 g]) dried beans such as cannellini, Great Northern, or borlotti, rinsed

Preparation info

Makes
4
Main-Course Servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Glorious French Food

By James Peterson

Published 2002

About

Most of this dish—cooking the shellfish, making a shellfish broth, and cooking the beans in the broth—can be done the day before or earlier the same day.

Ingredients

2 cups (about 1 pound [450 g]) dried beans such as cannellini, Great Northern, or borlotti, rinsed

Method

Soak the beans in enough water to cover by 8 inches [20 cm] for 4 to 12 hours. (If you soak them for 12 hours, they triple in volume and cook faster.) Drain the beans and put them in a heavy-bottomed pot with 3 cups [750 ml] of water, the peeled onion, and the bouquet garni. Simmer gently, uncovere