Cassoulet a comfort food for coldest winter nights

"Remind me where it is you attend school?" my California acquaintances inquire during my bi-annual sojourns home to the West coast.\nAfter five years of replying "Indiana," the abbreviated responses have remained static: in summer, "Hot!" and in winter, "Cold!" The utterances are typically delivered with the force of profound revelation accompanied by the smirking condescension of an older sibling informing a younger sibling there is no Santa Claus. \nLittle do they know that while "grim" often defines Midwest midwinter weather, it does not typify my accompanying mood. \nNatives of idyllic weather (myself once included) miss the celebration of survival, the joy derived from minor feats such as making it through a winter's day without careening headlong into a snowbank. \nHence, when sidewalks freeze over and forecasts range from "dark bleak" to "bright bleak," I relish the consequent pleasure of small events I once took for granted as a California girl: dry socks, sidewalk steam vents, nonskid soles and making it home, unscathed, to savor central heating, slippers and a quick skillet supper. \nOne such celebratory supper is a simplified, stovetop cassoulet, a dish that champions home comfort. It sounds like "casserole" and, similarly, it is an amalgamation of multiple ingredients baked ensemble. \nCassoulet is a rich, delectable concoction of goose confit, meats and beans cooked slowly in an earthenware pot.\nThe dish hales from Languedoc, part of the ancient land of Occitania, which includes all of southwestern France and whose language was the langue d'Oc, the language of the troubadours. The Languedoc can be divided into three gastronomic regions: the Languedoc Mediterenee (think garlic, olive oil and herbs); the Roussillon or Pays Catalan (couple the olive oil with the lusty rustic flavors of ham and sausage); and the Languedoc Toulousain, home of cassoulet, where olive oil yields to goose fat and the dishes are hearty, meaty and earthy.\nThe flavor of authentic cassoulet is extraordinary and complex. Regrettably, the same holds true for the preparation, rendering it beyond the realm of most weeknight possibilities. Moreover, goose fat is markedly absent from my, and most every other American's, pantry. For these reasons, an efficient rendering seems more than justified. \nMy streamlined cassoulet is not a complete break from the original. According to several sources, everyone in Languedoc who makes cassoulet passionately feels theirs is the authentic version, but every recipe is slightly different. Consider this recipe one permutation of many. I make no claims of authenticity, but am passionate about the contribution of this undemanding dish to the small thrills of winter.\n