Slow-Cooker Cassoulet

It takes days of cooking to produce traditional cassoulet, a rustic, flavorful stew with creamy beans and a host of tender meats—cubed pork loin, sausage, and either chicken parts or confit. Could we simplify it for the slow cooker? Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• We wanted to replace lean pork loin with something that wouldn’t dry out during long cooking. Boneless country-style ribs worked; to enhance their meatiness, we browned the ribs before adding them to the slow cooker.
• Chicken breasts became dry and stingy with long cooking. Tasters preferred the moist texture and richer flavor of bone-in thighs. To slow down their cooking time to match the six hours the pork needs, wrap the thighs in a foil packet and cook them on top of (rather than in) the stew.
• Dried white beans are like traditional French flageolets yet easier to find. We simmer them for just 20 minutes to give them a head start before adding them to the cooker. They become tender and creamy by the time the stew is done.
• Tasters found andouille and chorizo (common addition to slow-cooker cassoulet recipes) too distinctly flavored. They preferred garlicky kielbasa, browned first and added to the stew just before serving to prevent it from drying out.
• For the broth base, sauté chopped onion in the flavorful drippings left from browning the meats, then add plenty of garlic and thyme, as well as tomato paste for richness and body. Then stir in chicken broth and brandy (tasters preferred the complexity of brandy to the more traditional white wine) along with canned tomatoes and add this mixture to the cooker.
• To thicken the stew, remove a cup of the cooked beans, mash to a paste, and return this to the broth.
• A buttery bread crumb topping provides the classic crowning touch to this rich, meaty cassoulet.