And I’m making this one, too:

Streamlined Cassoulet
Yield 4 to 6 servings Time 40 minutes

This recipe needs instant flavor as well as tenderness. Pork tenderloin, cut into chunks, meets both requirements. Sausage adds a little fat to the stew, which is traditional and necessary. Give it a five-minute browning to crisp the skin and deepen the flavor.

• 4 cups chopped tomatoes, with their juice (canned are fine)
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 4 cups white beans, nearly fully cooked (drained if canned)
• 1 cup stock, dry red wine, bean cooking liquid or water
• Salt to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 pound Italian sausage, preferably in one piece
• 1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 boned duck breast

1. Combine tomatoes and garlic in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and add beans. Bring to a boil again, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat so mixture bubbles regularly but not furiously. Cook about 20 minutes, adding stock or other liquid when mixture thickens. Add salt and cayenne when beans are tender and flavorful.

2. While beans are cooking, put sausage in a skillet, and turn heat to medium-high; brown on both sides, turning only once or twice. Add to pot with bean mixture, along with pork cubes. Raise heat a bit if necessary to keep a simmer going. Stir beans occasionally so pork cooks evenly.

3. Cut a 1/2-inch crosshatch in skin side of duck breast, right down to fat layer. Put breast, skin side down, in skillet that sausage cooked in, and turn heat to medium-high. Cook until nicely browned, pouring any rendered duck fat and juices into bean mixture. Turn duck, and brown meat side. Then crisp up skin side again for a minute or so, once more pouring any fat into beans. Total cooking time for breast will be 6 to 8 minutes. When it is done, add breast to beans.

4. To serve, carve sausage and duck breast into serving pieces, and place on plates. Top with beans and pork.

Variation
In step 4, combine the cut-up duck with the beans and pork in a shallow baking dish. Finish the dish by toasting some bread crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper, in the fat remaining from browning the duck. Sprinkle these on top of the stew, then run under the broiler to brown just before serving.

Authentic cassoulet from southern France contains beans, braised mutton, sausage, confit of goose or duck and maybe a slab of bacon, all stewed together so the flavors meld. The idea of preparing it in 40 minutes or less is heresy, but I was determined to find a reasonable compromise when, a few years ago, I realized I would be unable to schedule the usual three-day production to serve to friends.