Cassoulet Français is a classic; with Diane Clement’s recipe, “you can’t go wrong.” Your nephew may even want it served at his wedding.

Growing up in Northern Quebec, I figured out that baked beans (des fèves au lard) were a staple dish most homes. Although recipes varied from family, the basic ingredients were generally the same — dried beans that had been previously soaked in water, dried mustard, onions, salt pork, salt and, with my father’s recipe, a dollop of shortening and a drizzle of maple syrup (never did he add molasses). All ingredients were layered in a two-tone Medicine Hat Potteries bean pot, topped with water and, with the cover on, slowly baked overnight in the oven.

Nothing reminds me of home more than the smell of baked beans. As kids we would wake up to the house blanketed with warmth and the most wonderful aroma that made our stomachs rumble with hunger. My mother would serve the beans for breakfast with buttered toast and sometimes a fried sunny-side-up egg. Love on a plate.

My father was very proud of his baked beans and made sure that we all had “his” recipe when we left home. It wasn’t until many years later, after he had died, that I found out that the recipe wasn’t his. We were in my mother’s kitchen preparing the beans when she looked over at me, smiling, and whispered, “I gave him my maman’s recipe and let him call it his own.”

I moved to Vancouver in the mid-’80s and often found myself missing home, and when I did, I would make baked beans. That familiar smell gave me comfort and made me feel less homesick.

Somewhere along the way, I began to experiment with other bean dishes and when I picked up a copy of Diane Clement’s Chef on the Run, I discovered Clement’s West Coast version of cassoulet, a classic French meat and bean dish. Her recipe, found in the Après Ski Spectactular section and aptly called Cassoulet Français, caught my eye and looked like something that I could make with easily accessible ingredients (chicken, pork butt, sausages and salt pork) — but would take three days of preparation, had a long list of ingredients and could feed a small army.

This wasn’t the humble bean dish that I had grown up with and loved making. However, I was excited and somewhat terrified. By this point, I had been in Vancouver for a few years and decided to throw a dinner party to impress my friends. I wanted to try something new, something with a wow factor.

In Chef on the Run, Clement offers helpful tips on entertaining as well as complete menu plans with different themes and her recipes are well written and easy to follow. She pairs her cassoulet with hot mulled wine and either crudités of vegetables or kippered salmon or cheese fondue. Those sides were a tad too elevated for me at the time, so I served it with a green salad and a French baguette. I kept it simple, as making the dish was already a lot of work and no one had been skiing.

The cassoulet was an instant hit, especially since most people went home with leftovers. It has become my most requested dish when I host dinner parties in the fall or winter and especially over the holidays. One of my nephews, 10 years old at the time, had even boldly announced that he wanted me to make this at his wedding and now at 31 (still single), he requests it every time he comes home to Vancouver for a visit. A new tradition of comfort food was born.

I have stayed very close to the original recipe, only changing the types of sausages used. Clement recommends non-garlic pork sausage, but I like to add fresh chorizo (not the dried kind) as it adds a bit of tasty kick. Sometimes I even throw in a few chunks of ’nduja sausage.

Recently, I had the honour of meeting Diane Clement in person. She had graciously agreed to an interview to discuss the recipe. Armed with my tattered copy of Chef on the Run, I meet her at a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, close to her home.

She arrives dressed in a vibrant red and black tunic, striking silver jewelry and her signature red hair, something she is just not prepared to give up, I learn later. Clement’s resumé is long and impressive, as she and her husband, Doug Clement, have left their mark in Vancouver through food and sport: They are both Olympians, they co-founded the Vancouver Sun Run, are inductees into the B.C. Hall of Fame, and have served on multiple boards and community projects. If that’s not enough, the Clement Track, at Minoru Park, is named after them.

As well as being a philanthropist and member of the Order of Canada, Clement has written eight cookbooks. Along with her daughter, she owned the popular Tomato Café in Vancouver until 2001. She also studied French cooking with Anne Willan at her cooking school in France, École de Cuisine La Varenne.

Although she recently celebrated her 88th birthday, she is spry and has a youthful glow about her. She is known for her enthusiasm, and to my delight, she is excited and prepared to talk about the cookbook and the cassoulet recipe, which she continues to make regularly.

“Of all my dinners,” says Clement, “this has been one of my family’s favourites.” The dinner menu evolved whenever she and her family went skiing at Whistler but “this is a [dish] that hungry skiers would rush off the mountains for and has become a tradition with my family,” she says, referring to her cassoulet. She tested the recipe several times with her family and friends before adding it to the cookbook. It is quite an involved recipe but she designed it so that much of it could be prepared in advance. “This is a classic; you cannot go wrong,” she says.

When I confess that I added my own twist by using chorizo, she is thrilled and admits that she might do the same next time she makes it.

Before wrapping up our interview, I ask her to share some cooking tips. “Don’t try any shortcuts, most recipes have been well tested,” says Clement. “Buy the best-quality ingredients, read the recipe carefully and ask guests if they have any allergies.”

Clement continues to enjoy hosting dinner parties and takes pride in being prepared and offering an impressive spread. As we thumb through Chef on the Run together, she mentions that most of the photos were taken in her home when they lived in Richmond. “I also offered cooking classes in my home,” she says. “We would offer wine tastings before each class.”

I am grateful to Diane Clement for her cookbooks and her incredible legacy, but mostly I am thrilled that her cassoulet recipe has now become a cherished tradition for my friends and family and will live on as comfort food for them. And maybe Clement will even try my version using chorizo.

Cassoulet Français

Diane Clement

This must be the world’s most sumptuous version of baked beans. I have simplified the original recipe so it can be assembled two days ahead of serving.

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Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Servings 20

Ingredients

  

The Beans

• 16 cups chicken stock
• 6 cups small white beans dry
• 5½ ounces tomato paste
• 1 large garlic clove crushed
• ¼ teaspoon basil
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• Pepper

The Meat

• ¾ pound salt pork cut into small cubes
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3¼ pounds pork butt trimmed of fat and cut into 1½ inch cubes
• 20 chicken thighs skinned
• 1 pound pork sausage non-garlic

Instructions

 

The Beans

• Two days ahead of serving, bring chicken stock to boil in a large heavy casserole. Drop in the beans, cover and simmer for about 1ó hours to 2 hours until just tender. Don’t overcook — the beans will be mushy. Remove to a large bowl, drain and reserve the stock. You should have about 9 cups of stock; if short, add more chicken stock to make up the difference. Add tomato paste, garlic, herbs and pepper to the stock and stir. Put stock mixture into a container, seal and refrigerate. Refrigerate the beans separately.

The Meat

• Rinse salt pork well to remove excess salt, then sauté in large skillet with the onion until golden. Set aside. Put a little salad oil into same skillet and sauté pork cubes until browned. Set aside with salt pork. Add more oil to pan and brown chicken thighs. Set aside. Slice sausage into thin slices; set aside.

  In a large casserole, place a thin layer of beans, arrange a third of the pork sausage on top, then a third of the salt pork mixture and a third of the chicken thighs. Repeat these lay- ers twice more, ending with a layer of beans. There should be four layers of beans and three layers of the meats. Cover and refrigerate.

  About 3 to 3½ hours before serving, pour reserved chicken stock over the bean mixture in the casserole until the stock just covers the beans. Cover and bake at 350 ℉ for 2 hours. Sprinkle top with the following mixture: 1½ cups fine breadcrumbs blended with 4 tablespoons of butter. Bake uncovered for about one more hour or until cassoulet is thick, bubbly and still slightly moist on the inside. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve triumphantly.

  Note: Check cassoulet after 2½ hours to see if it is thickened but still moist. If it looks a little dry, add more stock. If you are cooking only half quantities bake only for 1½ hours covered, then sprinkle with crumb mixture and bake for one more hour. Check on its progress after 40 minutes. To serve leftovers the next day, you may need to add more stock or tomato juice. Leftovers can also be frozen.