I've finished cooking my cassoulet, and it wasn't near as bad as I feared. Other than being labor-intensive for about an hour, it cooked all by itself while I hung out with my family. It's now being consumed as fast as we can shovel it in our mouths. It's so flavorful, and the different sorts of meats really go together well. I love LOVE the beans. I could eat them one by one all night long.

Next time, I think I'll make it with lamb and substitute something else for the garlic sausage - I don't really like it much. Maybe something spicy like andouille (although I know that's going a bit in a different direction). The duck is fantastic, and although the whole dish is pricey, it's worth it - I fed six adults for about $30, and you could go cheaper by purchasing your stew meat from a regular grocery store.

It's about 2 p.m. here in Portland, and I'm starting to cook my cassoulet. I've got a pile full of meats from Pastaworks (I'm using the veal for my yummy French stew). I'm a little jittery, as there are so many steps and so many different kinds of meat! I'm looking forward to finally attempting this legendary French country dish (the ultimate in slow cooking, if you ask me).

I'm going to start by cooking the white beans and, while they're simmering, I'll broil the duck confit. I'm terrified by duck, so I need a clear head and a clean kitchen.

I've decided to finally approach my fears head-on and make cassoulet. I've searched high and low for a good recipe and found a couple of great blueprints. I linked to this extremely detailed post on cassoulet when I spoke of it before, and I'm printing it out to use as a guide through my adventure.

Before you can make cassoulet, you have to decide how you're going to handle the meats. Most cassoulets are centered around duck, and use several parts of the bird. A classic rendition has the chef roasting the duck, rendering the fat, and making a 'confit' of the leg and a demiglace (French for stock) of the carcass. What's more, after all that, you have to select which other meats to include.

I made a critical decision when faced with my favorite butcher's meat counter and decided to buy duck confit already made. Brilliant no? It's pictured here. I also decided to go without the authentic duck stock and just buy storebought chicken broth. Hey, I don't have 48 hours to make this thing. I need cassoulet to be easy, or it's not happening.

Want to cook this live with me tonight? You'll have to head to the market. Here's what you'll need:

We're prepping our ingredients for Gardiane La Camargue, French beef stew in the style of the cowboys Francais in the Camargue, south of Arles. The dish is from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking.

Whoops! A few hours have passed since we cut the meat into 3- or 4-ounce pieces. Sorry about that, the baby that was getting into the cat food last time, I realized he'd better have some human food. Oh well, such is life. Now it's time to prep the carrots, onions and garlic. The instructions just say "garlic cloves," not "minced" or "peeled" or "unpeeled."

Hmmm. I decided to just peel them and crush just a bit in the process (I smack them with the wide edge of my knife to loosen the skins). My cloves look a little small... so I use eight or nine. I love garlic. I decide to toss it all in. A little extra garlic never hurt anyone. Right?

We're prepping our ingredients for Gardiane La Camargue, French beef stew in the style of the cowboys Francais in the Camargue, south of Arles. The dish is from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking.

OK, I've started cutting the meat into pieces that are about four ounces each. For my first piece, I took a look at my whole hunk and used my brilliant math knowledge to figure out that four ounces is one-fourth of a pound, and I have about four pounds, so I need to cut my beef into approximate sixteenths.

Luckily, I just bought myself a sparkly new kitchen scale for Christmas. It's only the second time I've used it. I cut my first piece and stuck it on the scale. Four ounces on the dot! Wow, I'm good, I tell my eight-month-old smugly (realizing he's eating cat food. ooops).

I cut up the rest of the pieces, trying to keep a closer eye on the cat food, and end up with more three-ounce pieces than four-ounce pieces. It turns out my ideal piece is a two-and-a-half or three-inch cube, or an isosceles triangle with the long part being about four inches (it's beef, not a block of foam, after all). Next up: carrots, onions and garlic.

Today we'll be prepping our ingredients for Gardiane La Camargue, French beef stew in the style of the cowboys Francais in the Camargue, south of Arles. The dish is from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking. It's one day before serving and time to combine:

• 4-5 pounds stewing beef, cut into cubes weighing about four ounces each
• five cloves garlic
• 2-3 medium yellow onions, cut into rounds
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths
• 1 bottle red wine such as Côtes-du-Rhône

The first thing I'm going to do is figure out what a four-ounce cube of beef should look like. I didn't ask my butcher to cut them, as recommended in Wells' recipe. Hmm...

We all miss Sara Moulton's Cooking Live like crazy. But instead of continuing to whine and complain about it, we're taking measures. Until we launch the Slashfood Network, we're just gonna bring the live cooking to you via blog.

Each Friday evening one of your lovely hosts or hostesses will be making a new or favorite dish with you. This week, I'll be hosting gardiane La Camargue, La Camargue's Beef Stew with Black Olives, from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking. As Patricia says, the gardiane is from France's "cowboy country" and is a stew of beef, black olives and red wine.

This recipe requires some advance prep so we'll be starting the dish on Thursday evening. In the meantime, you'll need to head to the grocery store for the following ingredients:

• 4-5 pounds stewing beef (like round and chuck)
• garlic
• 2-3 medium yellow onions
• 4 carrots
• 1 bottle red wine such as Côtes-du-Rhône
• 4 ounces oil-cured black olives

You should have olive oil, thyme and bay leaves in your pantry, but if you don't, add those to your list. You'll need a large, non-reactive bowl (like glass or stoneware) and a large, non-reactive casserole or pot that can go on the stovetop and in the oven (cast iron would work great). OK, see you tomorrow evening! larger scan after the jump