All Day Cassoulet

My dad was a very frugal shopper; he loved finding a bargain and could calculate the unit cost of an item in his head long before any of us could have produced the answer with a calculator (if we had had pocket calculators back then). He died before the advent of warehouse clubs, so I've taken his place, scouring the aisles for the best deals in town.

I don't feel like shopping today--I don't need to. I know I already have enough stored in my pantry to last through just about anything (even a pandemic). Let's see, there are 20 pounds of chicken tenders in the freezer, 10 pounds of onions, a dozen cans of diced tomatoes, several pounds of chicken sausage, and an untold amount of dry beans. Mmmm sounds like cassoulet.

Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat and white beans. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round,  earthenware pot.
Cassoulet (Photo courtesy CreativeCommons)

All Day Cassoulet

Ingredients

• 2 cups Great Northern or dried navy beans (see Note below)
• cheesecloth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 medium onion
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken sausage (I like Aidell's), sliced
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 4 cups coarsely torn fresh bread (preferably from a crusty, rustic loaf)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

NOTE: There are two ways to prepare dried beans. The first, and the one you are probably most familiar with, is to sort them (there COULD be rocks hiding in there), place them in a pot, cover them with water and let soak overnight. I don't know about you, but I don't often (ever?) plan that far ahead. If cooking beans means that I need to prepare the night before, cooked beans will not happen in my house. There's another method—an easier method, and it works just as well. Sort the beans, place them in a cooking pot (with a lid) and cover them with water. You want the water to go about 2 inches over the top of the beans. Bring to a full boil over high heat and boil for one minute. Turn off the heat, put on the lid, and let them sit for one hour. No peaking! OK, now you're ready to proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Instructions

First, prepare the beans:

1. Cut a square of cheesecloth, about 6-8 inches. Place the bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme in the middle of the square and tie them up with string/kitchen twine. You want the herbs to flavor the beans, but you don't want them (especially the rosemary leaves) to get lost in the broth. This little bundle is referred to as a bouquet garni (yes, it's French!). 
2. Push the cloves into the onion; place the onion, celery stalk, and carrot in the pot. Add enough cold water to cover to about one inch above. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until beans are tender throughout but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes. Discard the onion, celery, carrot, and bouquet garni. Set the beans aside—DON'T drain!

Next, the meats and vegetables:

1. While the beans are simmering prepare the meats. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken tenders for about 5 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Don't overcrowd the pan or the chicken will steam and not brown. It's best to cook in small batches. Remove the browned chicken pieces to a plate and set aside.
2. To the same pan add the sausage and cook for about 5 minutes or just until it begins to brown and caramelize. Remove to the same plate as the chicken.
3. Now add the diced onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent and begins to color. Toss in the garlic slices and cook for an additional minute. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

Now, get ready to assemble the casserole:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Using a skimmer, remove half of the beans from their pot and place in the bottom of a dutch oven. The next layer is one-half of the tomatoes.
3. Next, the chicken, sausage, and onions followed by the remaining tomatoes and the remaining beans. Add enough cooking liquid so the beans are almost, but not quite, submerged. Reserve the remaining liquid.
4. Bake s-l-o-w-l-y:
5. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Check the liquid every 30 minutes to make sure it is no more than 1/2 inch below the beans, and add liquid or water as necessary. Do not stir.
6. After the cassoulet has cooked for 2 hours, toss bread and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over cassoulet, and return to oven until beans are tender and bread is golden 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
7.  Before serving, let the cassoulet stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to cool and allow the beans to absorb some of the liquid.