The holidays are all about spending time with your friends and family — not slaving away in the kitchen all day. Cooking for Christmas Dinner can be quite the job and take longer and more work than first thought. However, I was the most happy man during this holiday season because my mom came to Boston!! It has been 3 years since she visited me in U.S. I was very very excited and it was the first time to spend family time during US holiday season. Cassoulet is a festive, budget-friendly main dish that’s just right for a family Christmas dinner. I bought a whole duck and then deboned it. Whole legs are cured in salt and spices then slowly cooked in duck fat.
These must be in garbure and cassoulet, also great simply grilled.

How did I spend Xmas with my family? My younger brother also came to Boston. He eats like an animal, and his favorite is carbonara. My mom asked me for seafood, so I made menu above. FYI, we ate tons of vegetables in earlier day. Don't tell me "add more veges"lol

I ordered a whole duck because I want to make Cassoulet, which is a traditional french beans and meat stew from the south of France. My cooking process was that prepared the onion, carrot, tomatoes and then all of the aromatics herbs and seasoning and finished by adding the duck fat and the vinegar. Broad white beans are soaked overnight then slow cooked in a tomato based stock with pork rinds and cured ham. Finally top up everything with a bit of water in order to just cover the beans and other ingredients. Once all the ingredients are in put the pan with the bean on the stove on a medium heat and cook gently. The beans are then layered with other meats and sausages, cooked in a cassole and finally topped with duck confit before being serve. All cassoulets are made with white beans (haricots blancs or lingots), duck or goose confit, sausages, and additional meat. This must be great with rich and heavy red wine. It’s winter. It’s cold. Now is the time for big hearty red wines from my student. Yes, I and my family were in heaven. Cassoulet is a project and depending on how “authentic” you want to make it. I have been to northern Spain for my Spanish study during my undergrad and have had Spanish version of Cassoulet in Oviedo where it is close to southern France, the origin of this dish. I didn't try to reproduce Spanish version, but tried to make it more French style because I really respect authenticity. All we did was enjoyed course meal on Xmas Eve and crushed the whole Cassoulet on Xmas. How was your Xmas? Happy Holiday!