French Cassoulet Clay Cooker Recipes

HOW TO MAKE CASSOULET

Steps:

• Soak Great Northern beans in water in a large bowl overnight. Drain beans and place into a large soup pot. Push whole clove into the 1/2 onion and add to beans; stir in garlic, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and 10 cups water. Bring beans to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until beans have started to soften, about 1 hour. Drain beans and reserve the cooking liquid, removing and discarding onion with clove and bay leaf. Transfer beans to a large mixing bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cook bacon in a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium heat until lightly browned and still limp, about 5 minutes. Stir celery, carrots, and 1/2 diced onion into bacon; season with salt. Cook and stir vegetables in the hot bacon fat until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat; brown sausage link halves and duck confit in the hot oil until browned, about 5 minutes per side.
• Season vegetable-bacon mixture with 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, cracked black pepper, and herbes de Provence; pour in diced tomatoes. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until juice from tomatoes has nearly evaporated and any browned bits of food on the bottom of pot have dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir mixture into beans.
• Spread half the bean mixture into the heavy Dutch oven and place duck-sausage mixture over the beans; spread remaining beans over meat layer. Pour just enough of the reserved bean liquid into pot to reach barely to the top of the beans, reserving remaining liquid. Bring bean cassoulet to a simmer on stovetop and cover Dutch oven with lid.
• Bake bean cassoulet in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add 4 crushed garlic cloves, panko crumbs, and parsley to the melted butter. Season with salt and black pepper, and drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over crumbs. Stir to thoroughly combine.
• Uncover cassoulet and check liquid level; mixture should still have several inches of liquid. If beans seem dry, add more of the reserved bean liquid. Spread half the crumb mixture evenly over the beans and return to oven. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. There should be about 2 or 3 inches of liquid at the bottom of the pot; if mixture seems dry, add more reserved bean mixture. Sprinkle remaining half the bread crumb mixture over cassoulet.
• Turn oven heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and bake cassoulet, uncovered, until crumb topping is crisp, edges are bubbling, and the bubbles are slow and sticky, 20 to 25 more minutes. Serve beans on individual plates and top each serving with a piece of duck and several sausage pieces.

EASY AND DELICIOUS SLOW COOKER CASSOULET

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook bacon until crisp and brown, turning often, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels; crumble when cool. Set bacon aside.
• Cook and stir onion in the same skillet until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken, sausage, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and black pepper; cook until chicken pieces are browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomato paste.
• Transfer chicken mixture to a slow cooker and stir in crumbled turkey bacon, great Northern beans, and diced tomatoes. Cover the cooker, set on Low, and cook until cassoulet is thickened and the chicken is very tender, 4 to 5 hours. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

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.