There are a number of different kinds of cassoulet, but the comment elements are beans and some kind of meat preserved in duck or goose fat. This is a very general definition and purists may object. After all, you can almost argue that franks and beans are a kind of cassoulet, if you cooked the franks in duck fat and let them ripen for a few days before mixing. (Hmm, try it and try Cleopatra's recipe, then send us mail saying which one you liked more).
We'll step back from this definition a bit.
We have had cassoulets served with a broad variety of beans, but white beans, like cannelini or Great Northerns are the most common. We made a lamboon based cassoulet using cranberry beans and we've had a cassoulet made with fresh fava beans served in Bordeaux.
In any event, the resulting dish is hearty and savory. It will take some planning and a bit of work, but in practice, there is nothing quite like cassoulet on a cold winter evening.
