Chicken and Sausage Cassoulet

I found this recipe by accident.  For about ten years, I've been preparing cassoulet on New Year's Day.  Cassoulet (ka-soo-LAY) is a French term used to describe a hearty, stew-like casserole of meats, vegetables and white beans, simmered slowly, allowing the flavors to meld and mingle into a supremely flavorful dish.  I found the original recipe in a 1996 edition of Southern Living magazine, which I have held onto ever since.  My family loves it and looks forward to it every year.  Being too lazy to go upstairs and locate that magazine, I decided the other day to just Google "Southern Living Cassoulet" and see if I could find it online.  I never did find that recipe, but what I found instead could really give our old favorite a run for its money.

Just for the fun of it, I gave this newer Southern Living recipe a try last night.  While this cassoulet is not nearly as involved as the one I've been using for a decade, it tastes every bit as delicious.  Consisting of sausage, chicken, and white beans cooked in one pan, this is a simple-to-fix, casual dish.  Unlike the cassoulet I usually prepare, this one has a cornbread topping poured over at the end and baked at 400 degrees.  I used my new 3.5 quart Cuisenart stainless fry pan, part of a set my parents gave us for Christmas, which was the perfect size to hold this dish. So, if you are going to make this, grab your big stove top and oven-proof fryer, iron skillet, or Dutch oven.  It takes almost no time to put together, but the results are super satisfying on a chilly, winter evening. 

Ryan will likely hold me to making the original favorite and familiar cassoulet on New Year's.  So, on Sunday I'll be roasting a chicken in the oven, frying pork chops on the stove, and cooking white beans in a big pot, before assembling everything in a huge Dutch oven and baking it for an hour and a half.  I can handle that once a year.  The rest of the year, I'll be going with this quick-fix version.

Start by sauteing chicken breast pieces until lightly browned.  

Then add sliced sausage.

Next, stir in the beans, tomatoes, chicken broth, and thyme.

Mix up the cornbread and pour over the top.  I used my own cornbread recipe, which was a little more than this cassoulet needed.  So I baked about 1/3 of it in a small pan at the same time.

The cornbread rises to the top and puffs up to a golden brown.

This one called for the prettiest French country bowl in the cupboard.

Stay warm!

Love,