Ham And Bean Classic French Cassoulet Recipes

CLASSIC FRENCH CASSOULET

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 325 F degrees.
• Brown the sausage: In a dutch oven or heavy bottomed sauce pan, brown the sausages whole. I prefer a smaller bite so I dice them up in pieces. Remove them once browned.
• Cook the chicken: Add the chicken breasts to the Dutch oven next, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the chicken is no longer pink and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
• Saute veggies: Add onion, carrot, and leeks to the pot in the residual sausage fat and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Then add the shallots and garlic and saute for an additional minute.
• Deglaze pot: Add the white wine to deglaze the pot, scraping any brown bits from the bottom.
• Finish the cassoulet: Return the protein to the pot and add beans, herbs, water and seasoning. Bring to a simmer then cover and transfer to the oven to bake for 2 hours.
• Garnish with parsley and serve.

TRADITIONAL CASSOULET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven: Set an oven rack to the center and preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Bake the cassoulet: Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and set it in the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes without opening the lid.

HAM AND BEAN CLASSIC FRENCH CASSOULET

Steps:

• Rinse and sort beans. In 6-quart slow cooker, combine beans and remaining ingredients; stir to combine. Cook until beans are very tender, about 7 to 8 hours on high heat setting. Remove and discard bay leaf. Ladle into serving bowls. NOTE: the Italian seasoning and the fennel are a substitute for herbs de Provence. If you have herbs de Provence, use 1.5 tsp of that and eliminate the Italian seasoning and fennel.

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.

HAM AND BEAN CASSEROLE

Steps:

• In a nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium/high heat. Sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Remove from heat.
• (Note: If you are using Italian stewed tomatoes, change the cheese to the Provolone and add the basil & pepper. If you are using the Mexican stew tomatoes stay with the cheddar cheese.).
• In a large bowl, combine the garlic/onion mixture with the ham, beans, tomatoes, cheese, basil & pepper. Spoon into a lightly greased 3 quart casserole dish.
• Combine 1 Tbs olive oil, bread crumbs, parmesan and parsley and spoon evenly over casserole. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for 30-40 minutes, or until topping is a light golden color.

RAYMOND BLANC'S CASSOULET

Steps:

• To cut the meats, roll up the pork rind like a Swiss roll. With the seam underneath, use a very sharp knife to cut the roll across into thin slices, then chop the rolled-up slices across into dice. Chop the bacon into small cubes (lardons). Cut the garlic sausage into 1cm thick slices.
• Drain the soaked beans and discard the soaking water. Tip the beans into a large saucepan, add the diced pork rind and lardons and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil and blanch for 15-20 minutes. Drain the beans, rind and lardons into a colander, and discard the cooking water.
• Roughly chop the celery, onion and carrot. Peel the garlic cloves but leave them whole. Cut each tomato into eight wedges. (You never see tomatoes in a traditional cassoulet, but chef Raymond Blanc likes them for their colour and sweetness, so he puts a couple in.) Preheat the oven to 120C/fan 100C. (If cooking in a gas oven, use mark 2.)
• Heat the goose fat or olive oil in a 26cm flameproof casserole or deep overproof sauté pan over a low heat and sweat the celery, onion, carrot and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bouquet garni and cook slowly to get a sugary caramelisation (about 5 minutes). Add the sausage, beans, pork rind and lardons and pour in 1.2 litres/2 pints water. Bring to the boil, skim off the scum, then add the salt, pepper, clove and lemon juice.
• Transfer the casserole to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring every hour. At the end of this time, the beans will be soft and creamy in texture and the juices should have thickened. You may need to cook it for longer than 2 hours (say up to 2½ hours) to get to this stage - it depends
• Remove the cassoulet from the oven. Bury the duck legs in the beans and sprinkle over the goose fat or olive oil, breadcrumbs and garlic. Return to the oven and cook for a further 2 hours. Serve the cassoulet in bowls, sprinkled with chopped parsley.

CHEF JOHN'S CASSOULET

Steps:

• Rinse soaked beans and drain.
• Pour broth into a large pot. Add chopped pancetta, bones from duck confit, and the drained beans. Tie bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme sprigs, and garlic into a small square of cheesecloth to create the bouquet garni; add to the pot. Stir. Bring to a simmer over high heat; skim foamy scum that forms, if desired. Reduce heat to low until beans are almost tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Sprinkle pork pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; brown the pork pieces, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add sausage to the skillet and cook in the same oil, turning until nicely browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes. Cut sausages in half and transfer to bowl with pork pieces.
• Remove fat and skin from duck confit and add them to the same skillet. Cook over medium heat until fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Transfer all fat and browned pieces from the skillet to a mixing bowl. Add melted butter. Stir in bread crumbs and chopped parsley; stir until mixture looks like damp sand. Mix in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup broth.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place onions, carrots, and celery in the same skillet used to brown the meats; add pinch of salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions are translucent and mixture turns golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook and stir until tomato paste starts to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan, 3 or 4 minutes. Pour in white wine; cook and stir until most of the wine evaporates, 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Drain beans over a large bowl to retain all the cooking liquid. Remove bones and bouquet garni.
• Place drained beans in large shallow baking dish or cast iron skillet (about 12 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep). Stir in cooked vegetables and about 1 cup broth. Add pork pieces and distribute evenly among the beans. Top with the shredded duck confit. Nestle the sausage halves into the bean mixture.
• Ladle cooking liquid into the baking dish until beans are nearly submerged. Spread bread crumb mixture evenly over the top but don't press into the liquid. Use your fingertips to make gentle indentations on the crumb surface for better browning.
• Bake in preheated oven until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and create a small "well" in the center of the cassoulet crust. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid (or as needed) into the well to rehydrate mixture. Use a fork to gently poke into the cassoulet to ensure the liquid is fairly evenly distributed but try not to disturb the crusty surface.
• Continue baking until cassoulet surface is crispy and caramelized, the meat is fork tender, and the beans are creamy and tender, about 30 to 45 more minutes.
• Serve in large bowls with a spoonful or 2 of hot cooking liquid. Top with chopped fresh parsley.

SMOKED HAM HOCK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Place the beans and the water in a large pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover partly and simmer until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a large, wide ovenproof pot over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and onions and saute until golden, about 7 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Stir in the tomatoes, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, sage and wine. Add the ham hock bones, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the bones from the pan and stir in the meat. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and dot with butter. Bake for 15 minutes. Divide among 6 plates and serve.

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.