Quick Cassoulet Food

CHEF JOHN'S QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Add bacon to a large, cold oven-ready skillet. Place over medium heat and cook for 10-12 minutes, until almost crisp. Transfer to a bowl, reserving the grease in the pan.
• Stir in sausage slices; cook 3-4 minutes. Add chicken thigh pieces; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until browned. Remove meat to the plate with bacon. Discard all the oil, but don't wipe out the pan.
• Add chopped onion and turn the heat to medium-low; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add 1 cup of chicken stock.
• Mash about 1/4 of the beans in a small bowl, stir all the beans into the pan.
• Stir in cayenne, rosemary and thyme. Add reserved meat back to the pan. Stir in remaining cup of stock or more if needed to cover. Return to simmer.
• Mix bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano and melted butter together in a small bowl.
• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 7 inches from the heat source.
• Sprinkle the cassoulet with half the bread crumb mixture. Place under the broiler and cook about 5 minutes, until browned.
• Remove the pan and push bread crumbs down into the cassoulet. Top with remaining bread crumb mixture. Return to oven and continue broiling 5 more minutes, until browned.
• Turn off the broiler and leave in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes. Enjoy.

QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic; cook and stir for a few minutes, until the onion is transparent. Add the sausage to the skillet, and cook for a few more minutes to brown.
• Pour in the kidney beans, cannellini beans and tomatoes, and season with the bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender.
• Remove bay leaves and discard. Sprinkle parsley over the top, and serve.

CAST-IRON SKILLET QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Position a rack in the highest level of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat until very hot, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and add them to the pan, skin side down, and lower the heat to medium. Cook, without turning, until the skin renders its fat, becomes brown and crisp and releases easily from pan, about 12 minutes.
• Move the thighs to the far edge of the pan, shingling them against the side so you can cook the vegetables. Add the carrot, onion, 2 of the garlic cloves and the pancetta and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender and translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs.
• Reserve 1/2 cup beans and mash them with a fork to make a chunky paste. Stir the remaining beans, chicken broth, thyme sprigs and bay leaves into the pan and season with pepper. Stir the mashed beans into the pan. Nestle the sausages and the chicken pieces into the bean mixture, placing chicken skin-side up. Bring to a simmer, place the skillet in the oven and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick, bubbling and has formed a skin, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven, and set the broiler to high.
• Grate the remaining 2 garlic cloves into a medium bowl with the remaining breadcrumbs and the chopped thyme. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir with a fork to evenly coat. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the cassoulet and broil until the breadcrumbs are golden and the sauce is bubbly and has formed sort of a crust, rotating the skillet so it evenly browns, about 5 minutes. Serve the cassoulet in the skillet.

WEEKDAY CASSOULET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Rinse and dry the chicken well and season with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
• In a large Dutch oven, over medium-low heat, add the bacon and slowly render the fat. Remove the bacon to a plate when crispy, leaving the fat in the pan. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the chicken, skin side down. Brown the chicken on both sides and then remove to a plate. Add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce by half. Stir in the beans, bay leaf and thyme. Nestle the chicken thighs and bacon into the pot. Add the chicken stock, cover and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the lid and top the cassoulet with sliced tomatoes and the Garlic Bread Crumbs. Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, 15 minutes longer. Serve the cassoulet with baguette slices.
• In a small saute pan over low heat, add the oil and the garlic. Stir until the oil is fragrant, about 1 minute. Toss in the bread crumbs and cook until the bread crumbs start to turn golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and remove from heat.

QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic; cook and stir for a few minutes, until the onion is transparent. Add the sausage to the skillet, and cook for a few more minutes to brown.
• Pour in the kidney beans, cannellini beans and tomatoes, and season with the bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover, and reduce the heat to low.
• Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender.
• Remove bay leaves and discard. Sprinkle parsley over the top, and serve.
• Some good variations - use Herbs de Provence instead of the other herbs listed. Substitute white wine for some of the juice. Great Northern Beans also work instead of cannellini beans.
• Great as leftovers! Serve with bread.

QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• In a large, lidded stovetop casserole, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
• Brown the chicken, and remove.
• Brown the sausage.
• Add the chicken, carrots, onion and garlic and saute for 2 additional minutes.
• Drain off the fat.
• Stir in the wine, bay leaf, thyme and pepper.
• Cover and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink.
• Stir in the beans and heat through.
• Sprinkle parsley on top.
• NOTE: Instead of dry red wine, you can substitute 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar.

QUICK PORK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chops; cook 2 min. on each side or until browned on both sides. Move to one side of skillet. Add kielbasa, carrots, onions and garlic; cook 2 min., stirring occasionally.
• Add broth, bay leaf and thyme; stir. Cover skillet with lid. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 25 min. or until chops are cooked through. Stir in beans.
• Mix flour and water. Add to ingredients in skillet; mix well. Cook 5 min. or until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.