Best Smoked Ham Hock Cassoulet Recipes

TRADITIONAL FRENCH CASSOULET RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cover beans with 3 quarts water and add salt. Stir to combine and let sit at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse beans and set aside.
• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Place stock in a large liquid measuring cup and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Set aside. Heat duck fat (if using) in a large Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering. Add salt pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a large bowl, leaving rendered fat in Dutch oven, and set aside. (If not using duck fat, cook pork with no additional fat.)
• Season chicken pieces with pepper (do not add salt) and place skin side down in now-empty pan. Cook without moving until well-browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip chicken pieces and continue cooking until lightly browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer to bowl with salt pork.
• Add sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until well-browned on both sides. Transfer to bowl with salt pork and chicken. Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat from pot.
• Add onions to pot and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook until onions are translucent but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add drained beans, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, cloves, and stock/gelatin mixture. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce to low, cover Dutch oven, and cook until beans are almost tender but retain a slight bite, about 45 minutes.
• Using tongs, remove carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaves, and cloves and discard. Add meats to pot and stir to incorporate, making sure that the chicken pieces end up on top of the beans with the skin facing upwards. Beans should be almost completely submerged. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, until a thin crust forms on top, about 2 hours, adding more water by pouring it carefully down the side of the pot, as necessary, to keep beans mostly covered.
• Break crust with a spoon and shake pot gently to redistribute. Return to oven and continue cooking, stopping to break and shake the crust every 30 minutes until you reach the 4 1/2 hour mark. Return to oven and continue cooking undisturbed until the crust is deep brown and thick, about 5 to 6 hours total. Serve immediately.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Bundle parsley, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, celery, and leek to form a bouquet garni, wrapping kitchen twine around the aromatics several times to secure -- which ensures easy retrieval of the ingredients after they've infused the cooking liquid with flavor.
• Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add fatback or pork belly, and cook until it is golden on all sides and has begun to render its fat, about 5 minutes. Add pork shoulder, and cook until golden on all sides, about 8 minutes total.
• Stick clove in half the onion, and add to pot along with bouquet garni, ham hock, carrot, tomatoes and juice, and beans. Add enough cold water to cover by 1 to 2 inches (about 8 cups). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until beans are tender throughout but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat. Discard carrot, onion, and bouquet garni. Transfer ham hock to a cutting board, reserving liquid, and let cool slightly. Trim meat and gelatin from the bone, dicing and returning them to the pot. Discard the bone.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Rub cut side of garlic clove over the entire inner surface of a small (5-quart) Dutch oven or other ovenproof vessel. This allows a subtle though distinct garlic flavor to infuse the resulting cassoulet.
• Using a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon, place half the bean mixture in the Dutch oven, spreading it evenly. Leave the cooking liquid in the pot.
• Arrange the duck confit and sausage on top of the beans in the Dutch oven to create a single, snug layer. Spoon the remaining beans over the meat, reserving the cooking liquid.
• Add enough cooking liquid so the beans are almost, but not quite, submerged. Reserve the remaining liquid. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Check the liquid every 30 minutes to make sure it is no more than 1/2 inch below the beans, and add liquid or water as necessary. Do not stir.
• After the cassoulet has cooked for 2 hours, toss bread and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over cassoulet, and return to oven until beans are tender and bread is golden, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Before serving, let cassoulet stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to cool and to allow the beans to absorb some of the liquid. You can refrigerate cassoulet in an airtight container for up to 3 days; rewarm in an oven heated to 300 degrees.