make | FRANCE | cassoulet au poisson and french bread

For our final FRENCH make we've created a healthy version of cassoulet!  This is a chicken-lover's version of the classic southern French casserole.  You can include the bird in bone-in legs and thighs and breast meat if you like, but we made ours just with chicken breasts as we don't like legs/wings/thighs/bones in general!

 

The traditional cassoulet is made with duck confit, which is basically meat braised for ages in a bath of fat before being roasted.  Obviously, this makes for a very rich dish! We've replaced that with some bacon, which still gives a yummy flavour and goes really well with the beans.

As it seems with most French food, the cassoulet's origins are in peasant cooking.  There are stories of cassoulets being extended for years!  Elizabeth David wrote that the tradition is to deglaze the pot of the previous cassoulet before making the next one (which makes a year-old cassoulet sound more appetising!)

Enjoy today!!  

rosinaviolets    x 

Cassoulet au Poisson (White Bean & Chicken Casserole!) 

Makes enough for 6 portions 

2 x cans cannellini beans 

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves 

1 bouquet garni 

2 chicken breasts 

2 chicken legs, drumsticks and thighs separated (or just use 2 more chicken breasts, like we did)

5 cloves of garlic, smooshed 

1 big onion, chopped finely 

250ml chicken stock

2 x cans chopped tomatoes 

fresh breadcrumbs, to top the casserole 

• Rinse and drain your cannellini beans.  Boil them in a pot with the bouquet garni, cloves and 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns for 10 minutes.  Strain the water away and remove and discard the cloves and peppercorns.  Remove the bouquet garni, but keep it, as you will use it in the next bit.  

• If you are using drumsticks and thighs, cook them until browned (5 - 7 minutes).  Transfer them to a plate before cutting the chicken breasts into pieces.  Cut the bacon into pieces too.  Cook the onion and garlic in a frying pan, and add the chicken breast pieces and bacon.  Put the drumsticks and thighs back in the pan.  

• Now add the chicken stock and the two tins of tomatoes.  Put the bouquet garni from the beans into the chicken mixture, bring to the boil and them simmer on the stove for 10 - 15 minutes, letting the broth reduce.  

• Remove the chicken pieces and bacon to a plate, and reserve the hot tomatoes and stock.  

• Remove the bouquet garni and throw it away - you're done with it now.  

• Now you can assemble your cassoulet.  Preheat the oven to 180C.  

• Use a 1 litre casserole dish.  Put 1/3 of the beans into the bottom of the pot.  Add half the drumsticks, thighs and chopped up breasts.  Add another 1/3 of the beans, and top with the remaining meat.  Finish off with the final 1/3 beans.  Pour about 250ml tomatoes and stock mixture over the top of the casserole.  Sprinkle breadcrumbs, salt and pepper over the top of the casserole dish and put it in the oven.  Make sure you cover it with foil for the first 25 minutes of cooking, and then increase the heat to 200C for about 5 minutes until the breadcrumbs brown.  

• Let the cassoulet stand for about 10 minutes before serving with vegetables and French bread (see our recipe below!) 

French Bread 

We didn't make any this week, but this is our recipe for french bread - try it - it's not as hard as you think and tastes amazing!  It's done in about three hours, and this recipe will make two loaves.  

550g strong white bread flour 

2 teaspoons active quick-rising yeast

2 teaspoons salt 

375ml warm water

• Keep back 50g bread flour, but put the 300g remaining in a mixing bowl.  

• Put the yeast down one side of the bowl and the salt on the other side.  Pour in the warm water and mix until the dough comes together.  The dough should leave the bowl clean but be a little sticky on the bottom of the bowl.  If it's too wet, you can add more flour about a tablespoon at a time.  Likewise with the water.  

• Let the dough rest for 5 minutes before kneading.  This short amount of time gives the gluten time to relax.  

• Take the dough out of the bowl and put it on a clean counter.  Knead the dough, incorporating the 50g reserved flour, and using it to dust the surface of the counter.  Knead the dough until it's really satiny and smooth.  This should take about 5 minutes.  

• Put the ball of dough into a mixing bowl that you've lightly oiled.  Cover the bowl with cling film and put it somewhere warm to sit for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.  This is the prime rising time.  It should double in size.  At the end of the rising time, turn your oven on to 230C.  It's hot! Put your baking sheet into the oven too to warm up.  

• Once the dough is risen, punch it back down - let's see you get that aggression out!  Make it back into a ball shape.  The dough should give to the pressure of your finger, and then rise back up again slowly.

• Cut the dough in half to make two loaves.  Pick up one ball and stretch it into a large rectangle.  Fold over the long edges of the dough to the mid-point.  

• Stretch out the long edges again and fold over once more.  Pinch the long edge shut, and the short sides shut too.  It should look like a long sausage.  It's really important the edges are shut because it will help the yeast rise evenly throughout the loaf.  Otherwise the dough will just go all flat.  Don't knead the dough again!

• Turn the loaf over so the long edge is underneath.  Cover it with a damp tea towel.  Do the same to the other ball of dough, and then leave both loaves to rest on a chopping board that you've floured well for about half an hour.  

• After this time, take your sharpest knife and make 3 - 4 shallow slashes diagonally across each loaf, like a baguette that you might buy in the shops.  These cuts allow the steam to escape as the loaf bakes, so it expands evenly whilst baking.  

• Once you're ready, carefully take the baking tray out of the oven, and place the loaves onto the tray.  Get about 125ml water ready next to the oven.  Put the bread quickly into the oven and throw the water on the floor of the oven, quickly closing the door.  This makes lots of steam.  The steam creates a thin and crunchy crust.  It doesn't damage the oven - professional bakers recommend this to create the steam.  (I mean Paul Hollywood!) Bake the loaves in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes.  When the loaves are finished, you can tap the bottoms and they will sound hollow.  

• Take them out of the oven and let them cool before cutting.  If you can wait!!!