Today I have committed what is almost certainly culinary blasphemy, and it was delicious.

Having read way too many recipes for cassoulet, it’s possible that I lost patience and decided to do this the very old fashioned way, to wit “throw whatever you’ve got in a pot and cook it any old how while you’re doing other chores”.

(French readers may wish to avert their eyes at this point.)

So today’s cassoulet included a link of andouille sausage, the last end of generic smoked sausage, and leftover pan-fried spam, all browned in saved bacon fat. Cooked the onion and garlic in the drippings and tossed in a good squeeze of tomato paste. There is no celery in the house, so I soaked some dehydrated celery flakes and used the water to make the chicken bouillon. To this, I added half of the mini-bottle of Pinot Grigio that didn’t come with me to last month’s leadershipping workshop, and a spoon of tonkotsu broth concentrate for creaminess. Simmered some baby carrots in it for a bit for flavor, dumped in beans and some thyme, and baked it at 300F for an hour and a half.

I fear neither god nor chef, and it tasted amazing (understanding that I like salty food quite a lot, if the whole ‘pan fried spam’ thing wasn’t a clue).

Also, the “going to be navy if it kills me” rayon pants have been bleached out (again) for one more try with a different navy dye. So, really, today is a win all around.

Today's cooking experiment: to see if I can make sukiyaki using the too-tough leftover chinese (ginger beef, to be precise) and no mirin.

Sauce: Two pan-filling splashes of vodka, about a quarter cup of honey and four spoons of sugar when the pan-filling splash of soy turned out to be a bit strong.

Simmer for... well, we're at about half an hour now. Until the beef tenderizes a bit?

TBC

Looks like an hour and a half to two hours about does it. Note to self: lower heat next time; vodka cooks off fast. Also, stir every ten minutes or so.

But it seems to be working!