Cassoulet

To celebrate the surprise snowfall we made French cassoulet for dinner Saturday night. We've made this dish for years and eaten it in French restaurants, but I think last night's was the best we've ever had. We started with this recipe, but we made it even simpler by eliminating the lamb roast, replacing the duck with chicken thighs, and using pre-cooked sausage. We browned chicken thighs and then meat from boneless pork chops cut into two inch pieces and we cooked all that in the oven with the tomatoes, wine, chicken stock, onions, garlic and thyme. After about thirty minutes we added canned small white beans (drained), added the sausage (cut in halves), sprinkled the buttered bread crumbs on the top, and baked it all another thirty minutes. Meanwhile, we broiled up some lamb chops. When the cassoulet was done, we ladled it into soup bowls and topped it with a lamb chop. This is the first time we've used small beans instead of large ones, added the bread crumbs, and cooked the lamb separately. It was so good!