During our Giving Tuesday membership drive, Rachel Owens, WUWM's Morning Edition host, described how the $15,000 matching grant from our friends at Vino Veritas was a little like a potluck where someone brings a dish and another person brings another dish and suddenly, there is a feast to be shared. And since we just recently had our WUWM staff Thanksgiving potluck, Rachel used the cassoulet I made as an example.
This was a fun bit and then Stefanie, a sustaining member, from Shorewood asked for the recipe. And since all of our content is free and accessible — thanks to donors and members like you and Stefanie — we are providing it here for your enjoyment.
This is not the proper French technique for a cassoulet. Since the dish is ultimately a humble stew of beans and assorted meats, this recipe keeps the spirit of the dish while being easy enough for a beginner home cook. This recipe replicates the richness and flavor of the dish with half the work, thanks to store bought gelatin and focusing on the one-pot nature of the preparation.
Cassoulet recipe
Serves 6-8
Ingredients & preparation:
1 pound Moroccan lamb sausage (or 1 pound of garlic sausage)
4 chicken legs, whole
8 oz. salt pork, cubed
1 pound dry cannellini beans, cleaned and soaked in salted water overnight (can substitute any white bean like navy or great northern beans)
1.5 tablespoons duck fat (or butter)
2 medium carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 head of garlic, roughly chopped
1 generous squeeze of tomato paste
1 cup of red wine
2 sprigs of rosemary
3 sprigs of parsley
4 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1.5 tsp of ground cloves
5 cups of chicken broth, plus 2 cups in reserve
1 box of gelatin
Method
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Drain cannellini beans and reserve in colander.
Over medium heat, in a medium-sized dutch oven, render the salt pork until brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. If needed, add the duck fat to help the salt pork render and not burn. Remove salt pork from the dutch oven into a bowl and add the whole sausages to the dutch oven.
While the sausages brown, season the chicken legs with pepper. Once sausages are browned, approximately 4 minutes on each side, remove from them from the dutch oven and onto a plate.
Place the chicken legs into the dutch oven and allow them to brown for about 5 minutes on each side.
While chicken is browning, mix the packets of gelatin with just enough water to make a thick paste. This will stop the gelatin from clumping later. Set aside.
Once browned, remove chicken legs and reserve on a separate plate.
Add carrots, onion, and celery to the dutch oven and sauté, stirring to pick up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, for about 8 minutes. Add garlic and a generous squeeze of tomato paste and stir to mix. Add rosemary, parsley, thyme and bay leaves. Continue sautéing for a minute or two.
Turn heat to high and add 1 cup of red wine, stir and allow the mixture to reduce by a half.
Add the salt pork, drained beans and the 5 cups of chicken broth. The broth should cover the beans. If not, add a bit more broth to cover the beans and vegetables. Stir and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Allow this mixture to cook at a medium boil for 5 to 10 minutes, which will give the beans a bit of a head start before going into the oven.
Remove the herbs from the mixture and discard. Add the gelatin mixture and stir. This will help the cassoulet form the “skin” once you put it in the oven.
Add browned sausages and using kitchen shears, cut the sausages into inch-long chunks.
Add chicken legs to the dutch oven and stir to mix well. Add cloves and a turn or two of fresh ground pepper. Do not add salt. There should be enough salt in the dish from the salt pork. There should still be enough liquid to cover the beans and meat.
Place the dutch oven, uncovered, in the pre-heated 300-degree oven.
At one hour, check on the cassoulet and puncture the forming skin. This will help rehydrate the beans for better texture. If the mixture is getting too dry, you can add more of the reserved chicken broth. Return the cassoulet to the oven.
After another hour, check on the cassoulet and puncture the skin again. Return to the oven.
By hour three, this will be the last time that you will check on the cassoulet to puncture the gelatin skin. Check the texture of the beans. If still to firm, return to the oven for another hour but if it’s just getting soft, return to the oven for 30 min.
After a total cook time for 3.5 to 4 hours, the cassoulet should be ready. You will know by the texture of the beans and the caramelized skin on top of the stew.
Carefully remove from the oven and serve with a crusty French bread.
Enjoy!
