This Provençal pork stew is ideal for chilly days when you crave a comforting meal. Traditionally, daubes were prepared in the fading embers of a wood fire using a distinctively shaped pot known as a daubière. The extended cooking time and the pot’s rounded form facilitate a convection process, where heat rising from the bottom transforms into steam, meets the cooler top, and condenses back down onto the simmering meat. This cycle helps the collagen in the braising meats convert to gelatin, giving the final dish a smooth and silky texture.

Our only task of the day was to eat the first serious meal of our trip — lunch at Chez Hugon, an old-fashioned bouchon. Something I had been looking forward to since I last paid the check at the very same restaurant 4 years prior.

I slow-cooked the jambonneau in a golden pool of home grown Tarbais beans semi submerged in a rich broth specked with carrots, onions, and aromatics. In the final cooking stages I sprinkled toasted breadcrumbs over the top to soak up the juices and help form a crunchy crust. Somebody not quite familiar with the particularities of cassoulet might mistake my preparation for the genuine article.

An Inexpensive Way to Bring the Savors of France onto Your Table

If you are looking for a cost-effective (and tasty) method to feed your family this winter, look no further than utilizing this simple French technique. Confiting is the perfect way to take leaner, less expensive cuts and transform them into tender, moist, and MORE flavorful pork morsels.

I don’t know about you but I seriously crave pork rillettes. Those perfectly porky heaps of meaty goodness spread thickly on a slice of toasted bread. They are the world’s most perfect snack foods and can tame a growling stomach in a single bite. Rillettes are equally good at home served with a flute of Champagne before a simple lunch as they are heartily packed onto a warm baguette for a quick lunch on the run. The best news is they can be easily made by any cook in any home kitchen in three easy steps.