i am ze master of ze french cuisine

Cassoulet is an intimidating endeavor.

This recipe was advertised to me as a soup by my mother. A particular soup, in fact, that we all fondly remember my Dad making many moons ago. And while there are definite similarities, it is not a soup. Silly Mom.



Okay, so it's rather soup looking while in the process, but the picture is deceiving.

Here is the recipe:

Field Made Cassoulet
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup flour
4 bone-in chicken thighs
2 andouille sausages (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1/4 cup red wine
1 and 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
pepper
2 12 oz. cans cannellini beans

Heat olive oil in stew pot. Dredge the chicken in the flour and place in the pot and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add sausages, carrot, onion, celery and garlic to the pot and saute until sausage is lightly browned and onion is translucent, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine, thyme, pepper, cannellini beans, and stir thoroughly. Lay the chicken atop the mixture and press down until almost covered. Cover the pot and set on low. Let simmer, checking occasionally for about an hour.


Okay, a few notes. Upon my Dad's recommendation, I added Cajun seasoning to my flour before dredging, just to add a little pizazz. As for the sausage, if you can't find andouille, find one with a similar flavor. I used chorizo. Now, cooking with wine is a new adventure for me. I asked my Dad what he used and he said cooking wine. However, neither of my parents are winos like me. If I wouldn't drink it, I'm not going to cook with it. So I used Menage a Trois. Oh, and when I added my chicken, I also added the crispy pieces of skin and other chicken drippings, adding more flavor. I let it cook for several hours instead of just one, theorizing that it would make the chicken more tender. Plus, I'm always paranoid when cooking chicken. But it did make it more tender.

The result?



More stew than soup, cassoulet is rustic and simple, while sounding delightfully French. It was deeeeelicious! Le magnifique!