Jerk Chicken Cassoulet

There are some foods that I consider blank canvases: pizza, tacos, pasta. You have to admit, pretty much anything tastes good in those applications. Pulled pork and hmmm...smoked gouda...would work equally well on pizza, in tacos, or on pasta. At least I think so. I have come to think of cassoulet in much the same way. A classic French dish of white beans enriched with fatty garlic sausage and even fattier duck, cassoulet is seasoned with herbs like bay leaves and thyme. Thyme is also a main constituent of Jamaican jerk seasoning, commonly used on chicken. I've made cassoulet with Chinese sausage and black vinegar before, so why couldn't I make it with jerk seasoning and chicken?

I could and I did. It was a fine activity for a windy Sunday afternoon.

A friend brought us some fairly mild jerk seasoning as a souvenir from Jamaica. We'd been using it for a while so there wasn't much left, but definitely enough for this dish. You could use a spicier commercial seasoning or make your own. You could also add more than I call for. Since there's no real standard spice mix, and I used a non-commercial blend, it's one of those things that should be up to individual taste. My final dish didn't taste exactly like jerk chicken - it wasn't nearly hot enough - but it was really delicious. The beans with their savory, lightly sweet, and vinegary cooking liquid would have been lovely on their own, even without the crisp-skinned chicken. Maybe even without the sausage, although as a carnivore, I really liked the sausage part.

Jerk Chicken "Cassoulet"

2 leeks
2 stalks celery
Olive oil
Salt
1/2 pound cured garlic sausage (like Hickory Farms kielbasa), diced
Jerk seasoning
2 (15-oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Fresh thyme
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Hot sauce
Butter
Panko
Chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 325°.

Trim the ends off the leeks, cut a deep slit from top to bottom and rinse the inside layers very well to remove any sand. Cut leeks into quarters and slice thinly. Trim the celery stalks and dice. Cook leeks and celery in a large skillet with a small glug of olive oil and a pinch of salt over medium heat until wilted. Add the kielbasa and cook until it starts to render out a bit of fat, 3-4 minutes. Season with a couple teaspoons of jerk seasoning and remove from heat. Stir in the beans.

Pour the bean mixture into a 9x13-inch baking pan. Top with 6 sprigs of fresh thyme. Set aside while you cook the chicken.

Place the same pan that you cooked the leeks in over high heat. Add the chicken, skin side-down, and cover pan to prevent splattering. Cook until skin is browned, 3-4 minutes. Turn chicken and sprinkle chicken skin with a teaspoon or so of jerk seasoning. Cook until bottoms of thighs are browned. Using tongs, remove chicken and place on top of the bean mixture in the baking pan.

If there seems to be a lot of chicken fat in the frying pan, blot it up with paper towels, being careful to leave any bits of chicken that are adhering to the bottom. Turn the heat to high and add the chicken stock, scraping up those browned chicken bits with a wooden spoon. Add the dark brown sugar, vinegar, and hot sauce to taste. Season with a few teaspoons of jerk seasoning. The sauce should be piquant, spicy, and have a nice thyme/allspice flavor. Feel free to add more ground allspice and ginger if you feel the seasoning needs to be kicked up a bit. Remove liquid from heat and pour over the beans in the pan, trying not to soak the chicken skin.

Cover the pan with foil and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour. Remove foil, turn oven down to 300°F and cook for an additional hour, until beans have absorbed most of the liquid and chicken is very tender.

While the chicken is cooking, melt a pat of butter in a small skillet. Stir in half a cup or so of panko and cook over medium heat until the panko is coated with the butter and nicely crispy. Season with a pinch of salt. Remove from heat and spread on a plate to cool. When cool, stir in a few tablespoons of finely chopped parsley.

To serve, mound beans in a shallow bowl and top with a piece of chicken. Garnish with some of the panko/crumb mixture. Serves 4-6.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Jerk Chicken Pot Pie

I gave Mr Minx two options for Sunday dinner, one of which was jerk chicken pot pie. Several days after choosing this dish, he informs me that he doesn't like pot pie. I ignore him and make it anyway, as: 1) it was the option he chose; 2) he'll like MY pot pie. Or so I hoped.

He later tells me why he doesn't like pot pie. He's not a fan of cooked carrots, or peas. Yet he puts carrots in almost everything that he cooks, and sometimes peas, too. I roll my eyes. I understand that he's had bad experiences with pot pies. His Mom wasn't much of a cook, so sometimes dinner was individual Swanson pot pies with their cardboard crusts and flavorless insides. My Mom made individual pot pies all the time, usually with left over pot roast. She'd booze it up with cooking sherry and pop a Bisquick biscuit crust on top, and we gobbled it up and asked for more. So I have only fond pot pie memories, but I understand the fear of a soggy crust or a filling that is more gravy than meat and veg.

But I was making this pot pie, and it was going to be glorious. Or at least pretty good.

I don't know why I got the idea of adding jerk seasoning to the pie. Jerk chicken is a thing and chicken pot pie is a thing, so why not combine the two? We had some delicious jerk seasoning that a friend brought us from a trip to Jamaica, so that is what I used. You can use any dry jerk seasoning that you like, commercial or homemade.

Mr Minx decided he liked my chicken pot pie enough to eat two helpings. That's not to say that he likes pot pie now, of course.

Jerk Chicken Pot Pie
This recipe has quite a few steps, but most of them can be done in the same pan without washing it in between. Feel free to use pre-cooked chicken, if you want to make your life a little easier.

For vegetables:
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup diced carrot
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 ounces button mushrooms, chopped
Olive oil
Salt
1 teaspoon jerk seasoning

For chicken and gravy:
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (about 6)
Chicken stock
Salt
Jerk seasoning
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons AP flour
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas

For the biscuits:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup cold butter cut into small pieces
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

To make the veg: In a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat, add the vegetables with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.Stir in the jerk seasoning. Cook another few minutes until everything is tender. Remove from pan and set aside until ready to use.

To make the chicken: Put the chicken in the same pan that the veg were in. Over medium-high heat without adding extra fat, cook on both sides until lightly browned, about 5 minutes total. Add 1 cup of stock, a pinch of salt, and about 1/4 teaspoon of jerk seasoning and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium-low and poach chicken for 30 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from heat. Dice the chicken and set aside until ready to use. Measure out the cooking liquid and add enough additional stock to make 1 1/2 cups.

Wipe out the frying pan and put over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the flour. Stir constantly to incorporate the two into a thick paste. Slowly whisk in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Taste for seasoning and add salt, pepper, and additional jerk seasoning as desired.

Stir the reserved chicken, vegetables, and frozen peas into the gravy. Remove from the heat.

To make the biscuits: Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a fork or your fingers. Stir in milk and cheese.

To finish pie: Preheat oven to 450°F.

Pour chicken mixture into a 8" or 9" square baking pan. Top with evenly spaced dollops of the biscuit dough.

Bake for 25 minutes, until biscuits are golden and gravy is bubbling. Serve hot, garnished with chopped green onion.



Posted on Minxeats.com.