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Michigan Cassoulet

Course Main Dish
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

The Day Before

  • 1 pound Navy Beans
  • 3 quarts Water
  • 3 tablespoons Salt

Creating The Cassoulet

  • 4 Whole Chicken Legs
  • 2 tablespoons Duck Fat
  • 1/2 pound Thick Cut Bacon chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 Lamb Sausages approximately ½-3/4 pound
  • 2 Duck Sausages approximately ½-3/4 pound
  • 1 Large Onion finely diced
  • 1 Carrot unpeeled and cut into 3 pieces
  • 2 Celery Stalk cut into 3 pieces
  • 1 cloves Whole Garlic Bulb separateand peel
  • 4 sprigs Parsley
  • 2 Bay Leaves

Instructions

The Day Before

  • Add water and salt to a large bowl. Stir to dissolve the salt. Add the beans and soak overnight. The next day, drain the beans and set to the side.

Creating the Cassoulet

  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  • Chicken: Melt duck fat in Dutch oven over medium high heat. When melted and starting to sizzle, slowly add the chicken, skin side down. Cover with your screen and allow to cook for 6-7 minutes or until deeply browned. Carefully turn chicken over and cook on the other side for 3 minutes. Set to the side on a platter.
  • Bacon: Add chopped bacon to the pot. Cover with your screen and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Set to the side on the platter with the chicken.
  • Sausage: Add the sausage to the pot. Cover with your screen and brown the sausage, turning periodically to brown both sides. This should take about 4 minutes. Set to the side with the chicken and bacon.
  • The Vegetables: Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions, scraping the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Slowly add the stock and continue scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic, parsley, celery, carrot, bay leaves and beans. Stir to incorporate. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Continue cooking for 45 minutes or until the beans still have a slight bite.
  • Putting It All Together: Remove the celery, carrot, parley and bay leaves. Add the sausage and bacon and submerge into the beans. Place the chicken legs on top, skin side up. The beans should be submerged in the stock and the chicken laying on top. Put the Cassoulet into the oven (uncovered) for 2 hours.
  • Check to ensure there is enough liquid and the beans are submerged. Add a little water to the edge of the pan if it seems to be a little dry. You don’t want to pour water on top or it will break the crust that’s forming. Cook an additional 3-4 hours, checking periodically and adding water if needed.
  • After 5 hours, you can add a little water to the edges and turn your oven down to 150 degrees. You can hold till you’re ready to serve. Periodically check to ensure it doesn’t need a little more water. You don’t want it to dry out.

Notes

Chicken Stock: If you need to use Chicken Stock out of a carton, you can add 3 packets (3/4 oz.) unflavored gelatin to the stock. Homemade chicken stock has a higher concentration of gelatin in it. The thicker stock will be what promotes the crusted top of the cassoulet.
Sausage: You can use any sausage you like. I will have to say that the duck and lamb sausage was amazing. You could us one or the other, instead of both. You could also use an Italian, Polish or Andouille sausage. Each one would impart its own signature flavor to the dish. Make it your own Michigan Cassoulet by using the sausage you like most.