Traditional French Cassoulet

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried cannellini beans
• Kosher salt
• 1 quart homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
• 3 packets unflavored gelatin, such as Knox
• 2 tablespoons duck fat, optional
• 8 ounces salt pork, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 6 to 8 pieces of chicken thighs and drumsticks, or 4 whole chicken leg quarters
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound garlic sausage
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 carrot, unpeeled, cut into 3-inch sections
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 3-inch sections
• 1 whole head garlic
• 4 sprigs parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cloves

Directions

1. Put the beans in a large bowl, pour in 3 quarts water, and stir in 3 tablespoons salt until dissolved. Leave them at room temperature overnight, then drain, rinse, and keep them nearby.
2. Set an oven rack in the lower middle spot and heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Pour the stock into a large liquid measuring cup, scatter the gelatin across the surface, and let it stand. If you’re using the duck fat, warm it in a large Dutch oven over high heat until it glistens. Add the salt pork and cook, stirring now and then, until it is browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Scoop it into a large bowl. If you’re skipping the duck fat, brown the pork in the pot without adding any extra fat.
3. Sprinkle the chicken with pepper, but do not salt it. Lay the pieces skin-side down in the empty pot and leave them alone until the skin is deeply browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook the other side until lightly browned, about 3 minutes longer. Move the chicken to the bowl with the salt pork.
4. Add the sausages to the pot and brown them well, turning as needed so both sides get color. Transfer them to the same bowl as the salt pork and chicken. Pour off the fat from the pot, leaving 2 tablespoons behind.
5. Add the onions to the pot and cook, stirring while you loosen the browned bits from the bottom. Continue until the onions look translucent without taking on color, about 4 minutes. Stir in the drained beans, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, cloves, and the stock and gelatin mixture. Bring everything to a simmer over high heat, then lower the heat, cover the Dutch oven, and cook until the beans are nearly tender but still have a little firmness, about 45 minutes.
6. With tongs, lift out the carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaves, and cloves, and discard them. Add the meats back to the pot and stir them in, arranging the chicken on top of the beans with the skin facing up. The beans should be nearly fully covered by liquid. Move the pot to the oven and bake uncovered until a delicate crust appears on the surface, about 2 hours, adding more water as needed by pouring it carefully along the side of the pot so the beans remain mostly covered.
7. Use a spoon to crack the crust, then gently shake the pot to settle everything back into place. Put the pot back in the oven and keep baking, breaking the crust and shaking the pot every 30 minutes until you get to the 4 1/2 hour mark. Return it to the oven one last time and cook without disturbing it until the top is thick and deeply browned, about 5 to 6 hours total. Serve immediately.