Main Dish
Twisted Cassoulet
Jigar Wines
6615 Front Street
Forestville, CA 95436
jigarwines.com
- RECIPE YEAR: 2015
- RECIPE BY: Twist Eatery, Toni Echols
- YIELD: Serves 6
- PAIRS WELL WITH: Dry Creek Valley Malbec
Chock-full of meats and cannellini beans, this is a hearty, comforting one-pot meal.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound dried cannellini beans
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons duck fat (optional)
- 1/2 pound applewood smoked bacon, chopped
- 12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1 pound chorizo, quartered and chopped
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onions
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped garlic
- 4 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups homemade chicken stock
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
Directions:
Put the beans in a large bowl, cover with 3 quarts water and add the salt. Stir to combine and let stand at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse the beans well. Set aside. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, warm the duck fat until shimmering. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over. Transfer to a large bowl. Season the chicken with pepper (do not add salt). Place the chicken, skin side down, in the pot and cook until browned, about 6 minute. Turn the chicken over and cook for 3 minutes more. Transfer to the bowl with the bacon. In the same pot over medium heat, cook the chorizo, turning occasionally, until well browned on both sides. Transfer to the bowl with the bacon and chicken. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pot. Return the pot to medium heat, add the onions and cook, stirring and scraping up the browned bits, until the onions are translucent but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add the cannellini beans, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaves and stock. Increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the beans are almost tender but retain a slight bite, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300°F. Add the meats to the pot and stir to incorporate, making sure that the chicken is facing skin side up on top of the beans and the beans are almost completely submerged. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven and cook for about 2 hours, adding water by pouring it carefully down the side of the pot as necessary to keep the beans mostly covered. Remove from the oven and top with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes more, then serve.
