Cassoulet
Posted On 5 June 2022
Bought some cassoulet beans. Read a bunch of recipes. Making something cassoulet adjacent.
I think Julia Child would be horrified.
Cassoulet
A "meat" stew with a creamy cassoulet beans.
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 1 pound cassoulet beans, rinsed and (optional) soaked for 2-4 hours
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons clarified butter
- 1 pound pork sausage, links preferred (not Italian sausage, bratwurst if you must, kielbasa if you can)
- red wine
- ½ pound salt pork, cubed
- ½ medium white onion, diced
- ½ medium red onion, diced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1-2 quarts low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon dried taragon
- 1 bay leaf
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the beans. Optional: Let soak in cold water for 2-4 hours. This will make cooking time less although the total time will be about the same, so….
- Season and pepper the chicken thighs liberally.
- Get a large stock pot and heat over medium heat until bottom is very hot. Add the clarified butter and immediate add the chicken thighs. (Hot pan, cold oil, cold food.) Let cook for 2-3 minutes or until they'll release easily from the pan. Cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until internal temperature is 150°F / 65°C. Remove thighs from the pot and set aside to cool slightly.
- If the sausage links are raw add the sausage links to the pot and cook, turning every couple of minutes, until internal temperature is 150°F / 65°C. Remove to let cool slightly.
- Deglaze the bottom of the pan with a little red wine being sure to scrape up any browned bits from the chicken and sausage.
- Add the salt pork and cook until fat is rendered.
- Add the onions, shallots, celery, and carrots and, if needed, a healthy dash of good olive oil. Stir to coat, reduce heat to low, and let sweat for 5-10 minutes until getting soft.
- Meanwhile, rough chop the chicken thighs and cut the sausage on a bias into large-bite-sized pieces.
- Add the garlic and cook a few more minutes.
- Add the beans into the pot.
- Add the meats.
- Add the tomatoes.
- Add chicken stock until the stew is covered 1-2 inches.
- Add tarragon and bay leaf.
- Bring to a boil and let boil for 10-15 minutes, stirring infrequently as that'll just reduce the temperature.
- Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and let simmer for 3-6 hours until reduced, thickened, and the beans are a nice consistency and bite. Somewhere in the middle of this cooking time taste and adjust the seasonings.
- Serve with a crusty French or Sourdough bread.
Notes
- I don’t know French but I think Cassoulet means “bean stew with whatever you have on hand” from the recipes I read. Some use duck, some use chicken legs, some use chicken thighs, some use pork. Some have tomatoes and some don’t. Some cook the vegetables in duck fat, some in pork fat. I think you could make this meat-less or use seafood, adding shrimp in at the very end to just heat through.