Best French Cassoulet Recipes

FRENCH CASSOULET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Trim the excess skin from the duck or chicken and place on a lined baking sheet. Dry the trimmed skin in the oven, checking often, until crispy, about 15 minutes.
• Add the skin to a food processor along with the breadcrumbs, oil and the 1/8 teaspoon thyme leaves and blend until uniform. Set aside. (This step can also be done while the cassoulet is stewing).
• Heat the clarified butter over high heat in a heavy-bottomed saute or frying pan and, working in batches, sear the poultry, pork or lamb and sausage until they are caramelized, adding more butter if the pan gets dry. Remove the meats to a large roasting pan or deep broiler-proof baking dish as they are completed.
• In the same pan you browned the meat in, saute the onions, carrots and celery until they are caramelized. Add the tomatoes, wine, and 5 cups water, deglazing the pan by scraping all the loose particles from the bottom of the pan.
• Drain the beans and add them to the pan, along with the marjoram, parsley, bay leaves and 1/4 cup thyme. Bring the liquid to a boil.
• Pour the beans and liquid over the meats in the roasting pan, cover the pan tightly with foil if no lid is available and bake until the meat is fork-tender and the beans have absorbed most of the liquid and are tender, about 3 hours.
• Remove the meat from the pan, drain the liquid from the beans and vegetables and put it into a saucepan.
• Add two cups of the cooked bean and vegetable mixture to the liquid and puree with an immersion blender or puree in a blender before adding to the liquid. This will thicken the liquid into a sauce.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour the liquid back over the remaining beans and vegetables, stirring to combine.
• Preheat the broiler.
• Slice the lamb or pork and lay it on the beans with the sausages and poultry legs. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of the cassoulet and broil until the top is lightly browned.

CASSOULET (FRENCH STEW MADE WITH DUCK AND SAUSAGE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. FOR THE BEANS: In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Saute the onions and celery for 4 minutes, or until they are slightly wilted.
• Add the beans, salt, cayenne, water and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until beans are tender and most of the water is absorbed, about 2 hours.
• FOR THE MEATS: In a large oven proof skillet, over medium high heat, combine the flour and oil. Stirring constantly, make a medium brown roux.
• Add the onions, celery, bell peppers, carrots, salt and cayenne. Stirring constantly, cook for 4 minutes or until vegetables are slightly wilted.
• Add the duck legs and sausages and cook for 3 minutes on each side.
• Add the chicken broth and stir the mixture until the roux and broth are combined and mixture thickens. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to loosen any brown particles. Bring to a boil. Add the beans and duck meat. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 30 minutes.
• FOR THE GRATINE: In a mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, and olive oil. Mix well. When the bean/meat mixture is cooked, spoon the gratine evenly over the top and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Spoon a serving of the mixture from the pan onto a plate and add garnishments.

CHEAT'S FRENCH CASSOULET - CROCK POT OR LE CREUSET

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet - fry the bacon until nearly crisp & then add the onions, garlic, & carrots. Cook over a high heat until they are just soft on the outside & turning a golden colour. Drain well & remove from pan. Add to crock pot or Le Creuset casserole dish.
• Add sausages and brown - remove & add to onion mixture.
• Add pork chop pieces & brown - remove and add to above mixture.
• Make up chicken stock and add wine. Mix tomatoes in with stock & teaspoon of sugar.
• Pour stock and tomatoes over the cassoulet in crock pot or le creuset - add bouquet garni & give everything a good stir!
• Add the beans and stir well again.
• Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and cook for up to 6 hours on high in crock pot or in le cresuet for 3 hours in a slow oven with the lid on, 150C/300°F.
• Half an hour before serving, take lid of le creuset to brown the top. It's difficult to brown in a crock pot, but it's not that essential to brown the top, as the reason behind the breadcrumbs is to soak up some of the juice & make a crust on top! If your crock pot is the type which you can put under the grill, then do so!
• Serve with mountains of fluffy mashed potatoes & stir-fried Savoy Cabbage.
• NOTE ON SAUSAGES:.
• Try to use very good quality high meat content sausages; in France Toulouse sausages are mainly used - they generally have a meat content of at least 85%. Good quality English style sausages are also good - I have a recipe posted for some English sausages: Recipe #190045.
• However, any kind of sausage can be used and in the past I have used: Choritzo, Italian Style, Chipolatas etc.
• The Pork chops can be replaced with chicken pieces, lamb steaks or Confit D'Canard - preserved duck, if you are lucky enought to have some!

EASY FRENCH CASSOULET WITH WINE, BEANS, SAUSAGE, HAM AND HERBS

Steps:

• In a large oven-proof skillet such as a Le Creuset or Dutch oven cook sausage, onion, and garlic over medium-low heat until meat is lightly browned and onion is tender; drain off fat.
• Add ham, parsley, and bay leaf; mix well. Stir in undrained beans, wine, and cloves.
• Bake, covered, at 325°F for 45 minutes.
• Uncover and bake 40 to 45 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.
• Serve in bowls with butter and a baguette or hot corn bread, if desired.
• Makes 6 servings.

FRENCH CASSOULET

Steps:

• Rinse beans thoroughly.Place ham hocks in a large pot. Add 1 onion, thyme, and salt and pepper. Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 2 hours. Remove from heat, allow to cool for 15 minutes, then drain ham hocks, discarding onion and thyme. Cut meat from each hock into 2 pieces. Discard bones and set meat aside. Meanwhile, place pork rind, ham bone, and 1 onion in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until pork rind is rendered, about 20 minutes. Add beans and enough water to cover by 1⁄2" (about 8 cups) and season with salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook until beans are tender, about 45 minutes. Adjust salt, if necessary, then set beans aside to cool. Heat duck fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages and cook, turning to brown on all sides, for about 10 minutes. Place garlic, remaining onion, and 1⁄2 cup water in a blender and purée until smooth. Add garlic paste to sausages and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, turning sausages occasionally, for 10 minutes more. Preheat oven to 350°.Remove and discard ham bone and onion from beans (it is okay if some pieces of onion remain). Using a slotted spoon, transfer about half the beans with pork rind to a heavy wide-mouthed 5-6 qt. cast-iron, clay, or earthenware pot, about 4" high. Assemble cassoulet in layers: Place the meat from the ham hocks on top of the beans and cover with sausages and garlic paste. Divide duck into 8 pieces by separating drumsticks from thighs and, if using a whole duck, splitting breasts in half crosswise through the bone. Arrange duck on sausages, then spoon in remaining beans with pork rind. Season with nutmeg and add just enough reserved bean cooking liquid to cover the beans (about 3 cups). Reserve remaining liquid. Bake, uncovered 1 hr. Reduce heat to 250° and cook for 3 hours, checking every hour or so.

FRENCH CASSOULET CLAY COOKER

Steps:

• Place beans in 4 cups water in deep bowl; let stand 8 hours or overnight. Or, heat beans and 4 cups water in 2 quart saucepan, to boiling, boil briskly 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand covered 1 hour.
• Soak top and bottom of 3 1/4 quart unglazed clay cooker in water about 15 to 20 minutes; drain.
• Combine beans with liquid, lamb, onion, carrot, garlic and thyme in clay cooker. Stir in tomato sauce. Insert bay leaf and ham hock in center.
• Place covered cooker in COLD oven. Set oven at 375°F (190 C). Bake, stirring once or twice, until ham, lamb and beans are tender, about 3 hours.
• Cut sausage into 1 1/2 inch pieces; pierce each piece with fork.
• Heat butter and oil in frying pan; stir bread crumbs in oil mixture until well coated.
• Remove ham hock from cooker. When cool enough to handle, discard bones and skin; cut meat into chunks. Return meat to cooker. Stir in sausage. Sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs.
• Bake uncovered until sausage is hot and bread crumbs are crisp and brown, about 35 minutes.
• Clay Cookery.