As I was decluttering my office by throwing away old cooking magazines, I spotted a cassoulet recipe in bon appétit, which seemed to be a good dinner for a cold midwinter evening.  This adaptation is a bit of a project in the sense that it has multiple components best performed over multiple days, but each of the steps is easy.  This will make 4-6 servings.

For the Chicken Confit

2 lbs. skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 head of garlic, peeled into cloves

2 large shallots, peeled and halved

4 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

4 juniper berries (I forgot to add these)

1 cup olive oil

For the Beans

1-1/2 cups large, dried beans (I used mayo coba beans)

½ onion, peeled

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 sprigs thyme

Salt to taste

For the Cassoulet

1 large onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

7 oz. tomato sauce

14 oz. andouille sausage, cut into 8 pieces

Make the chicken confit at least a day in advance.  Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.  Salt and pepper the chicken and put it in a smallish Dutch oven or other heavy pot just big enough to hold the thighs in one layer.  Arrange the onion, garlic, and spices around the chicken and top everything with the olive oil.  On the stovetop, bring the pot to a gentle boil, then cover and put it in the oven for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.  Remove from the oven and allow the pot to cool overnight, first on the counter and then in the refrigerator.  Reserve all the contents of the pot.

To make the beans, begin by soaking them overnight.  Put them in a medium pot with the onion, garlic, and thyme.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until tender.  (This particular batch of beans may have been old, because this took forever.  Salt the cooked beans in their liquid to taste.  Leave the beans at least 30 minutes in the liquid to absorb the salt.  Drain the beans while reserving a cup of the cooking liquid.

To make the cassoulet, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   In a large skillet, put 1/3 cup of the olive oil from the pot with the chicken.  (Reserve the rest of the olive oil for other cooking.)  Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add the tomato and cook for about 5 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated.  Add the beans, the onions and garlic from the beans, the shallots and garlic from the confit, ½ cup of chicken broth from the confit pot and the cup of bean cooking liquid.  Bring to a simmer and salt and pepper to taste.

Put the bean mixture in the baking dish and nestle in the chicken (skin side up) and the sausage.  Bake for about 2 hours until the chicken skin is crispy and the cassoulet is nicely browned.

The original recipe also called for making breadcrumbs from a thick slice of sourdough bread, tossing them with a Tbs. of olive oil, sprinkling them over the cassoulet, and baking for another 20-25 minutes until the breadcrumbs are nicely browned.  I did not do this since I thought the cassoulet was already cooked enough.

For 4 servings, give each person a chicken thigh, 2 pieces of sausage and a quarter of the beans.  For 6 servings on 3 separate nights, give 4 servings of a chicken thigh and a piece of sausage (plus beans), and 2 servings of 2 pieces for sausage (plus beans).