Confit Chicken Thigh And Andouille Sausage Cassoulet Recipes

Steps:

• For the chicken confit:
• Preheat oven to 225°F. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in a small Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Arrange garlic, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, and juniper berries around chicken; drizzle oil over. Bring to a very low simmer over medium-low heat, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook until meat is very tender, 2-2 1/2 hours. Let cool in oil (preferably overnight).
• For the cassoulet:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1/3 cup oil from chicken confit in a large skillet over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, 10-12 minutes. Squeeze garlic cloves from chicken confit from their skins into skillet and add tomatoes, crushing with your hands. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add beans and their cooking liquid. Skim off remaining fat from chicken confit and pour juices (about 1/2 cup) into skillet (reheat fat in pot just enough to loosen juices underneath if needed). Bring to a simmer; season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer bean mixture to a 2-2 1/2-qt. baking dish. Nestle chicken into beans, leaving as much skin exposed as possible, then tuck sausage and shallots from confit chicken around. Cook until chicken skin is very crisp and cassoulet is nicely browned, about 2 hours.
• Pulse bread in a blender or food processor to medium-fine crumbs. Toss crumbs in a small bowl with 1 Tbsp. oil from confit chicken (use remaining oil for sautéeing vegetables); season lightly with salt. Top cassoulet with breadcrumbs and cook until they are golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
• Do Ahead
• Chicken can be cooked 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Steps:

• Drain and rinse the soaked beans and heat the oven to 350.
• Heat the oil in a 6-quart Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-high until hot but not smoking. Add the chicken thighs and brown well, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the thighs, add the sausage to pot and brown well, another 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the sausage. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add the garlic and sauté, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Add back the thighs and sausage along with the beans, filé powder if using, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and enough water to cover. Stir well and bring the mixture to a simmer.
• Cover and transfer the pot to the oven and bake until the beans are tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours, checking every half-hour or so after the first hour and adding water as needed if all the liquid has been absorbed.

Steps:

• Lay the leg portions on a platter, skin side down. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the kosher salt and black pepper. Place the garlic cloves, bay leaves, and sprigs of thyme on each of 2 leg portions. Lay the remaining 2 leg portions, flesh to flesh, on top. Put the reserved fat from the chicken in the bottom of a glass or plastic container. Top with the sandwiched leg portions. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Remove the garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken fat and reserve. Rinse the chicken with cool water, rubbing off some of the salt and pepper. Pat dry with paper towels.
• Put the reserved garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken fat in the bottom of an enameled cast iron pot. Sprinkle evenly with the peppercorns and salt. Lay the chicken on top, skin side down. Add the olive oil. Cover and bake for 12 to 14 hours, or until the meat pulls away from the bone.
• Remove the chicken from the fat. Strain the fat and reserve. Pick the meat from the bones and place it in a stoneware container. Cover the meat with some of the strained fat so that there is a 1/4-inch layer of fat on top. The chicken confit can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
• The excess oil can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and used like butter for cooking. The tinge of chicken taste in the oil is wonderful and I use the oil to roast potatoes, cook green beans, and pan-fry veal.

Steps:

• Add bacon to a large, cold oven-ready skillet. Place over medium heat and cook for 10-12 minutes, until almost crisp. Transfer to a bowl, reserving the grease in the pan.
• Stir in sausage slices; cook 3-4 minutes. Add chicken thigh pieces; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until browned. Remove meat to the plate with bacon. Discard all the oil, but don't wipe out the pan.
• Add chopped onion and turn the heat to medium-low; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add 1 cup of chicken stock.
• Mash about 1/4 of the beans in a small bowl, stir all the beans into the pan.
• Stir in cayenne, rosemary and thyme. Add reserved meat back to the pan. Stir in remaining cup of stock or more if needed to cover. Return to simmer.
• Mix bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano and melted butter together in a small bowl.
• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 7 inches from the heat source.
• Sprinkle the cassoulet with half the bread crumb mixture. Place under the broiler and cook about 5 minutes, until browned.
• Remove the pan and push bread crumbs down into the cassoulet. Top with remaining bread crumb mixture. Return to oven and continue broiling 5 more minutes, until browned.
• Turn off the broiler and leave in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes. Enjoy.

Steps:

• Chicken Confit. Preheat oven to 225°. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in a small Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Arrange garlic, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, and juniper berries around chicken; drizzle oil over. Bring to a very low simmer over medium-low heat, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook until meat is very tender, 2-2½ hours. Let cool in oil (preferably overnight). Do Ahead: Chicken can be cooked 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.
• Cassoulet. Preheat oven to 350°. Heat ⅓ cup oil from chicken confit in a large skillet over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, 10-12 minutes. Squeeze garlic cloves from chicken confit from their skins into skillet and add tomatoes, crushing with your hands. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add beans and their cooking liquid. Skim off remaining fat from chicken confit and pour juices (about ½ cup) into skillet (reheat fat in pot just enough to loosen juices underneath if needed). Bring to a simmer; season with salt and pepper. Transfer bean mixture to a 2-2½-qt. baking dish. Nestle chicken into beans, leaving as much skin exposed as possible, then tuck sausage and shallots from confit chicken around. Cook until chicken skin is very crisp and cassoulet is nicely browned, about 2 hours. Pulse bread in a blender or food processor to medium-fine crumbs. Toss crumbs in a small bowl with 1 Tbsp. oil from confit chicken (use remaining oil for sautéeing vegetables); season lightly with salt. Top cassoulet with breadcrumbs and cook until they are golden brown, 20-25 minutes.