cassoulet

Courtesy of Delia: (serves 6)

3/4 lb white haricot beans
1/2 shoulder of lamb (inside half, not the leg half, bone removed)
1 lb belly of pork, boned and cut into strips
1/2 lb streaky bacon in one piece
1/2 lb garlic sausage in one piece
4 juniper berries
2 med onions, chopped
a bayleaf
2 cloves garlic
a sprig thyme
a small sprig rosemary
a few stalks parsley
5oz fresh white breadcrumbs
salt and pepper

Wash beans well in about two changes of water (no need to soak overnight) before placing in saucepan with 3 pints cold water.  Bring to simmering point, and after about 2 mins put aside and leave for an hour for beans to absorb liquid

Meanwhile prepare other ingredients:
trim any really excess fat off lamb and cut meat into very large chunks
pare rind as thinly as poss from bacon and pork, chop rinds into very small pieces
leave pork slices whole
chop bacon into 6 large chunks
peel and chop garlic sausage into largish pieces
tie herbs into little bunch
crush garlic
crush berries (pestle or back of teaspoon)

When beans are ready, drain them and discard water
Put beans into large saucepan with bacon, rinds, sausage, onions, garlic, juniper, herbs and freshly ground pepper (no salt).  Cover with 2 1/2 pints cold water, simmer gently 1 1/2 hours.

halfway through cooking time, preheat oven gas 3 / 170C / 325F,  roast the lamb and pork for 45 mins.

when meat is cooked, the bean mixture is also ready.

empty contents of saucepan into a sieve or colander placed over a bowl, let it drain, retain the liquid, remove the herbs.

Butter a 5 pint casserole dish.  Arrange half bean mixture over the base, put lamb and pork on top, season with salt and pepper, add rest of beans.  Add 3/4 pint of the bean cooking liquid, cover entirely with the breadcrumbs and cook in the oven uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

Doesn't say whether it could be bottled but I would think not in view of the fact it has meat in it.  Could probably be frozen, though?

Courtesy of the French Mrs Beeton, if you want a selection of recipes to compare.

500g Haricot beans
150g bacon
750g pork or mutton
600g  duck or goose portions
goosefat
150g toulouse sausages
1 carrot
200g onions
30g garlic
150g tomato purée
bouquet garni
cloves
salt & pepper

Soak the beans over night. Cook in a saucepan with the carrot, the onion spiked with cloves, the bacon, bouquet garni and enough water to cover it (about 4 litres).

while this is cooking for an hour fry the pieces of pork or mutton in goose fat, add the rest of the onions, the garlic, the purée and 50cl of the cooking water from the beans.  Cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat.

Take out the carrot, onion spiked with cloves and some of the liquid leaving just enough to cover the meat which includes the sausage and duck/goose portions.  Simmer for 1 hour.

Put into a large casserole alternating beans, juices, meat cut into pieces and slices of sausage.  Carefully season.  Finish with the bacon and sausage, cover and cook in a gentle oven for 2 hours covered the 15 minutes uncovered.

Hope this works - its been a bit of a b***er to translate and we havent had the time to try many of the recipes from this book yet.  

Certainly over here they do keep this in large Kilner jars - you need to make sure that both the jar and contents are really hot before putting it in and then let it cool at room temperature (that's what makes it air tight) and always renew the rubber rings before  re using the bottles.  Again, we've never done this with this type of stuff preferring, as Yorkie1 said to use the freezer but the old ladies around here do save their food like this in Kilner jars in their 'cave' (sort of like a garage for foodstuffs and wine, dark and cool. Let me know how you get on if you try it - like I say, we havent had chance to use this cookbook really yet.

Elibump xx