This riff on a classic cassoulet skips most of the exotic ingredients and elaborate preparation but still delivers deep rich flavor.
Notes
Do Ahead: Chicken can be cooked 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Remember to brine the beans overnight and cook them the next day before preparing the cassoulet.
Ingredients
Prepared Beans
- 1½ cups dried Tarbais beans - such as Rancho Gordo Cassoulet beans
- 1-1/2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 slice thick bacon - cut into quarters (optional)
- 1 small carrot - cut into quarters
- 1 small onion - quartered
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves garlic - whole
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- Parmesan rind - optional
Chicken Confit
- 1½ pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 head of garlic - halved crosswise
- 2 large shallots - halved
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 juniper berries
- 1 cup olive oil
Cassoulet
- 1 large onion - chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - chopped
- 1 14.5-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
- 4 cups prepared beans
- 1 cup bean cooking liquid
- Kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 large andouille sausages - or other smoked sausages
- 1 thick slice sourdough bread
Instructions
Prepare the chicken confit
- Preheat oven to 225°.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in a small Dutch oven or other heavy pot.
- Arrange garlic, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, and juniper berries around chicken; drizzle oil over.
- Bring to a very low simmer over medium-low heat, cover, and transfer to oven.
- Cook until meat is very tender, 2–2½ hours.
- Let cool in oil (preferably overnight). Reserve oil, garlic, and shallots.
Brine beans
- Dissolve 1-1/2 tablespoons of salt in 2 quarts of water.
- Add beans and brine overnight.
Cook beans
- Add olive oil to a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat.
- When the oil is shimmering, add bacon and cook until most of the fat is rendered and the bacon is beginning to crisp.
- Add the carrot, onion, peppercorns, bay leaf, garlic, and thyme to the pot.
- Simmer until the onions begin to soften.
- Rinse beans, and add to the saucepan.
- Add water to cover beans by one inch.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until beans are tender, about 45 minutes.
- Drain the beans, reserving the liquid. Pick out the aromatics.
Prepare the cassoulet
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Heat ⅓ cup oil from chicken confit in a large skillet over medium.
- Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, 10–12 minutes.
- Squeeze garlic cloves from chicken confit from their skins into the skillet.
- Add the tomatoes, crushing with your hands.
- Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes.
- Add beans and their cooking liquid.
- Skim off remaining fat from chicken confit and pour juices (about ½ cup) into the skillet (reheat fat in the pot just enough to loosen juices underneath if needed).
- Bring to a simmer; season with salt and pepper.
Bake the cassoulet
- Transfer bean mixture to a 2–2½-qt. baking dish.
- Nestle the chicken into the beans, leaving as much skin exposed as possible, then tuck the sausage and shallots from the confit chicken around.
- Cook until chicken skin is very crisp and the cassoulet is nicely browned, about 2 hours.
Bread crumbs
- Pulse bread in a blender or food processor to medium-fine crumbs.
- Toss crumbs in a small bowl with 1 Tbsp. oil from confit chicken (use remaining oil for sautéeing vegetables); season lightly with salt.
- Top cassoulet with breadcrumbs and cook until they are golden brown, 20–25 minutes.