Now don’t laugh at this recipe. I came up with it because I was hankering for cassoulet on a cold, wet Sunday. These ingredients are what I had, and I didn’t have much prep time. I’ll bet there are plenty of quirky recipes in the households of the southern France where those French ladies know how to fix a hardy meal. (Samuel, our two and half year old son, loved the beans.)
Gently mix all ingredients except meat and studded onion in a deep, heavy casserole dish. Best you can gently submerge meatand onion into the bean mix without mashing beans. Cover and place into a 350 degree oven. Check back in about a ½ hour, and once bean sauce is bubbling at a good rate, turn oven down to a temperature (about 275 degrees) where the beans just barely bubble. Baste meat and onion with bean sauce every half hour or so. Total cooking time around 2 hours more-or-less depending on the meats you choose.
