Cassoulet and the joy of bowl food

Haven't posted for a while ,  life has just been so busy. OK so it might be May but it's cold and wet and we needed comfort food to be produced in the small kitchen. How about Cassoulet?

There are as many recipes for cassoulet as there are people in France and like all French opinions all of them say they are authentic. Its one of those recipes where everyones mother has the authentic one. I suppose they all are in a way, there seem to be only two things really needed and they are haricot beans and sausages. this is real peasant food or bowl food as my husband calls it. Steaming hot, it is deeply comforting and nourishing and so easy to cook., though it does take a bit of time on the cooking front and is perfect if you have a slow cooker; which the small kitchen doesn't have due to lack of space!
 I usually make a huge batch of cassoulet after Christmas and freeze it in portions, this is closer to the version from the South of France as it has loads of left over goose in it and is made with goose stock, this is probably due; according to Julia Child; to the fois gras production and they have to do something with the rest of the goose.
However not much goose available in May so we have to manage without it.
So here's the method:
I used a couple of rashers of smokey bacon chopped up and fried with an onion and garlic. Into that six Toulouse style sausages were flung(these were from nowhere more exotic than Sainsbury and they were on special offer! always handy!) I gently fried them off a little just so they weren't really anaemic. Toulouse sausages are great as they are high in meat content and full of garlic and  herbs so are packed with flavour. I then tossed in a couple of tablespoon of chopped sun dried tomatoes that give that deep Mediterranean punch, chopped carrot, chopped celery, a chopped potato and a tin of haricot beans that have been drained. Pour in a glass of red wine and two tablespoons of tomato puree, bring to the boil and cover with stock, any sort is fine but I used chicken as I always have a batch in the freezer. Add salt and pepper to taste and a teaspoon of thyme and one of parsley. Wait till it comes to the boil and turn down to the merest simmer with the lid on for about an hour. Add a couple of handfuls of roughly chopped mushrooms; I hate those tiny thin slices of mushroom, when I bite one I want to taste all that earthy mushroominess!
Simmer for another hour or so making sure it doesn't boil dry, if it gets that way add a little more stock.
Just before serving slake some cornflower, a couple of teaspoons full in a little water and stir it in to thicken.
Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!