Winter White Bean Stew Recipe I Recently Put Together

This is a take on a more easily accessible Cassoulet that I developed with a little bit of a spanish influence as well.

• 2 chicken drumsticks (skin removed)
• 2 bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed, trimmed of excess fat)
• 1 link of soft chorizo sausage
• 4 strips of thick cut bacon (cut across into ¼ inch strips)
• 3-4 cups of cooked white beans (Great Northern are a good option)
• 1 medium yellow onion (cut into large dice)
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes, or an equivalent amount of diced fresh tomatoes to onion (drained)
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 cup white wine (chardonnay preferred)
• 1 box of chicken stock (I use Kitchen Basics when I can't make my own, but a brand of equivalent volume would be fine, or homemade is always best!)
• 2 large rosemary sprigs, leaves removed
• 4 to 6 thyme sprigs, leaves removed
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 medium garlic cloves (lightly crushed, skins removed)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• Canola oil, and small amount of butter
• Chipotle chili powder, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• White wine vinegar, to taste
• Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
• French bread (sliced ½ inch thick)
• Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing

Start in a heavy bottom soup pot by cooking the bacon over medium heat to the desired crispiness, and then draining on a paper towel to be used later as a garnish. In either the same pan, or a separate pan, remove the chorizo from it’s casing, and brown in the pan over medium-high heat, breaking it up into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon. The reason that it is your choice whether to use the same pan, or a separate pan is that the chorizo will release quite a bit of oil and it cooks. If you use one pan for the entire process, then more skimming will be necessary at the very end, but the results might be a little more flavorful. Either way, once the chorizo has been browned, set it aside to drain on paper towels. In the “main” pan, add in chicken drums and thighs, and lightly brown on all sides until there is at least no more exposed raw chicken on the outside. Remove the chicken, and set aside. Reduce heat back to medium, and add your diced onion. Cook the onion until lightly golden in color, roughly 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any leftover bits of meat that may be stuck. Next add enough drained tomatoes to roughly match the quantity of onion in the pan, and your tomato paste. Up the heat to medium high, and stir frequently for around 2 minutes until some of the left over moisture in the tomatoes has cooked out. Add white wine, and bring to a quick simmer. Let the wine cook down, stirring from time to time until you can scrape your spoon across the bottom of the pan without the cavity quickly filling back in with liquid. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F, or prepare your crockpot to an equivalent temperature. Once the wine is cooked down, add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil, and then reduce to a slow simmer. If you are using a crockpot, this would be the time to transfer over to it. Now add in your thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, garlic cloves, black pepper, and chili powder. Give this a stir to incorporate everything, and then transfer your chicken and chorizo back to the soup. Cover and cook in the crockpot or oven until reduced by at least ¼ of the original volume, and chicken is fork tender. While the soup is slowly reducing, in a sauté pan, toast the panko breadcrumbs over medium low heat (approximately 3 to 4 on the burner scale) in just enough canola oil and butter to lightly coat the crumbs, stirring often, until deep golden brown. Transfer to a plate for later. Once the soup has reduced, and the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the oven and put on a burner set to a low holding temperature. Remove the chicken, and bay leaves from the pan. Shred the chicken, discarding the bone and any remaining cartilage. Before returning the chicken to the soup, at this point the broth should have calmed down a little, and the excess fat in the soup should be floating on top. Skim as much of this off with a ladle as possible without losing a lot of your soup base. This can be a little time consuming and takes a steady hand, so be patient. Once you’re happy with your skimming, return the shredded chicken to the soup along with the cooked, drained white beans, and most of the toasted panko breadcrumbs, leaving enough crumbs behind to garnish over the top of the soup at the end. If the broth has reduced too much, then add a little bit of water or chicken stock if you have it, but to me a super flavorful soup with less broth beats the opposite any day. Taste and adjust for all seasonings, including the white wine vinegar. The vinegar should be treated like salt in the way that you don’t want to be able to identify the vinegar, but just for it to give a slight pop. Make sure the soup is at the temperature that you want, and hold it there until the chicken and white beans adjust and you’re ready to serve. In the meantime, turn on your broiler and put in your sliced French bread. Keep a close eye on this and toast both sides until lightly golden, and then brush each slice with your extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with salt. An optional addition here would be to sprinkle a little garlic powder on each slice as well, or if you have extra garlic cloves lying around, cut one in half and rub it directly on to the toast while it’s still warm. Use your sense of smell to judge when you’ve rubbed enough. Now, the final steps…once everything is in place and you’re ready to serve, ladle the soup into each bowl keeping the chunky pieces toward the center, and then garnish with bacon, breadcrumbs, and chopped parsley. Serve toasted bread on the side.

Let me know what you think!

bon appetit