Cassoulet

This is nowhere near as good as the cassoulet we had in Montmartre, Paris, but it's good enough.  If you are lucky enough to have some good quality beef stock handy (Becky brought some home from work and it worked very well for this recipe), that is preferable.  Otherwise, bouillon will suffice.  Also, make sure that you use a dry wine - you don't want this to end up too sweet.  If all goes well, you will end up with a dish that looks like chili and tastes like awesome.

Ingredients

• 2 c. dried white beans (like Great Northern)
• 1.25 lb. fresh sausage, chopped
• 1.5 red onion, minced
• Handful sage
• Small handful thyme, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 - 2.5 c. dry white wine
• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 3 c. beef stock

Directions

1. Boil the beans in water for a couple minutes, then cover and remove from heat.  Let the beans sit for an hour or so.  They will nearly double in size.
2. After the beans have set, combine the sausage, onion, sage, thyme and garlic in a large pot on medium-high heat.  Stir occasionally until sausage cooks through and onions become tender.
3. Add the wine while scraping the bottom of the pot to remove any stuck pieces.  There should be enough wine to completely cover the solid contents.  Let this simmer for a few minutes.
4. Mix in the tomato paste and beef stock.
5. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 1.5 hours or until beans are super tender.