French Cassoulet & More Wurst

We both wanted white beans and I had been wanting to try cassoulet and we had sausage so that’s what we made using some more sausage from The Wurst Kitchen.  I looked around and found a fairly simple recipe to use from My Recipes, that I altered a little.

Cassoulet - Adapted from My Recipes

8 bone-in chicken thighs (I used a whole chicken)

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

8 ounces chicken sausage or kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch slices – note 1

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 celery rib, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

2 carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 (19-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup chopped Italian or flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Note 1 – I used 1½ lb of regular Bratwurst from The Wurst Kitchen and did not slice it.

Note 2 – I made it a one pot meal by cooking everything in a 12” Dutch oven.

Note 3 – I could not get motivated to make it the night before so I made it early the morning of the meal.

Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large deep-sided skillet (Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook in batches, turning occasionally, 10 minutes or until well browned. Remove chicken to a plate, and set aside.

Add sausage to Dutch oven, and cook, turning often, for 6 minutes or until sausage is well browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium, and add onion, celery, and carrot to pan. Cook, stirring often, 10 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, and scrape up any browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add tomato, next 3 ingredients, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; stir to mix well and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add chicken and sausage.

At dinner time, bake uncovered for 30-45 minutes, then remove chicken from the pan, debone, chop into bite sized pieces and return to pan and cut sausage links in half.

Combine breadcrumbs and remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small bowl; stir to mix well. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle mixture over casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for about 15 minutes or until crumbs are lightly browned.

Plate and enjoy.

I thought it was very good but I was hoping for blow me away delicious for the effort required, but I realize it could have been much simpler to make by following the recipe as written.  It might have also been better had I chosen a more complicated recipe - you get what you pay for.  I’ll bet it would have been blow me away good if our friends and French gourmands Meakin & Sam (My Carolina Kitchen) had made it.  Once again, the sausage was delicious – I’m already planning my next trip to The Wurst Kitchen.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/9/17 Meal Date