One of my first recipes, when I started this food blog way back in 2008, was a hearty slow-cooked bean and meat Cassoulet. I still make a Cassoulet, especially during our short cold spells here in L.A. Read on to see my delicious take on this classic French one-pot meal.
This Chef is a Francophile. I like movies by Jean-Luc Godard, ye-ye pop music by Serge Gainsbourg, pommes frites (yes, French fries), and this French-style cheap$kate Cassoulet.
One of my early L.A. jobs in the Biz was as a videotape editor. Lunch was often in a neighborhood restaurant run by a charming French couple. My favorite dish was a comforting plate of Cassoulet. It reminded me of a rustic home-cooked all-in-one dish: a bean casserole version of my Mom's Cajun rice dish, Jambalaya. It's made with rice instead of beans and similarly loaded with sausage and chicken.
A classic Cassoulet is made with confit duck legs, sausage, and white beans. I've yet to find duck for 99c or less a pound but cheap chicken quarters, legs, or split breasts from a local Latin market do fine; as for sausage, you can use any local favorite brand that's on sale.
Beans are still a good deal. I get my dried white beans from the local Dollar Tree for just over a buck per pound. You can use small or large white beans. The white beans are also called Great Northern, Haricot, Boston, or Navy Beans.
A French mirepoix of veggies includes onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. They will sweeten this stew with slow cooking on the stovetop and in the oven.
The veggies I use for my Cassoulet are still cheap, you can't get much cheaper veggies than onion, carrots, and celery.
For a vegetarian version, you can add more large-cut veggies (carrots, potato) and leave out the meat (veggie stock instead of meat-flavored bouillon,) and top it with bread crumbs -- baking for an hour sweetens and intensifies the flavor of veggies and beans.
Cassoulet can be a clean-out-your-refrigerator-of-veggies dish (I like to add more veggies than normal recipes call for including kale, spinach, or collard greens).
On a cold winter day, try out this simple baked bean and meat entree that tastes even better reheated the next day. The 99 Cent Chef's Cassoulet would make "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" author Julia Child proud.
Cassoulet - Video Play it here. The video runs for 5 minutes and 34 seconds.
To view or embed from youtube, click here.
Ingredients (serves about 4)
- 1 lb. package of white beans - small or large. Also called Great Northern, Navy, Horicot, and Boston beans.
- 8 cups of water (according to package directions.)
- 1 cup white wine or vegetable broth - optional.
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or any favorite fresh or dried herbs including sage and oregano.
- 1 each: whole onion, celery stalk, and carrot chopped.
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and chopped, or a teaspoon of crushed garlic.
- 2 chicken leg quarters or a whole split chicken breast. Okay to use any favorite pieces of chicken.
- Sausage - about 1 pound. Any local favorite type.
- Salt and pepper to taste
*A nice touch is to add a layer of bread crumbs (about 1/2 cup) on top of the meat when oven-baking.
Directions For Beans
Wash beans and pick out any debris if necessary. Chop veggies into large or small pieces.
Add oil and saute onions for about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and saute for another minute.
Finally add the chopped veggies, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.
Fill the pot with about 8 cups of water and a cup of wine. Wine is optional, okay to add any favorite broth like vegetable.
Bring beans, veggies, and water to a boil, then lower the heat to a low simmer. Cover and cook until beans are tender, about 3 to 4 hours. Be sure to check on liquid if it cooks out - add water as needed.
*Lately I've been adding greens. For quick-cooking spinach or Swiss chard, add these when you start baking the sausage and chicken. For slower cooking kale, collard, and mustard greens, add during the last hour of simmering beans.
Directions Baking with Chicken and Sausage
Add chicken to the top of cooked, tender white beans.
I like 2 chicken leg quarters, or a whole split breast (a whole breast that is sliced in half along the center bone.) Okay to use any favorite chicken pieces you like.
I like to use uncooked sausages I find on sale. It's okay to use any local favorite cooked or uncooked sausages from your grocer.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I like to add salt and pepper to the meat.
Sprinkle a half cup of breadcrumbs over the top of the Cassoulet. Add pot to the oven.
Cooked uncovered in the oven for about an hour and a half until chicken is done (double check by piercing with a fork looking for clear juices.) Sausages should be done at about the same time. Because the meat is cooking with bean broth the meat also steams and will stay moist even when overcooked.
I bake the chicken skin side up and I add a pinch of salt and pepper to the top of the chicken pieces. That way the skin is crispy and well-seasoned when done. You can also remove the skin for a lighter Cassoulet.
The breadcrumbs will brown as the Cassoulet bakes. When done, carefully remove from oven and allow to cool down for 5 minutes. This is a one-pot meal so all you need is a small salad if you like.
Cassoulet freezes fine, so don't let the large amount deter you. And it's the type of meal you can return to the next day - it will be even better!
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