Santa Colin Cowherd hands out Christmas presents to several NFL teams this holiday season, including the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers. The Philadelphia Eagles needed Tanner McKee to step into Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys as Kenny Pickett left with a rib injury. The Eagles selected McKee in the sixth round of the 2023 draft out of Stanford. But he had never seen any action in a regular-season game. With Jalen Hurts already out and Pickett in the locker room, McKee took the reins and the team didn’t really miss a beat. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee reacts after throwing a touchdown pass during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) McKee found star wide receiver A.J. Brown with 2:44 left in the third quarter for a 20-yard touchdown pass. It was the first touchdown pass of his career. But Brown made a major faux pas by throwing the football into the stands at Lincoln Financial Field. He didn’t realize it was McKee’s first touchdown pass until he got back to the sideline. PATRIOTS FANS CHANT 'FIRE MAYO' AS TEAM SUFFERS BLOWOUT LOSS TO CHARGERS Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) launches the football into the stands after catching a touchdown pass during the second half on Sunday. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Luckily, Eagles fans support their own and the team got the ball back. McKee then hit DeVonta Smith for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. The team went up 41-7 at the point. They won the game by the same score and clinched the NFC East title. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown gestures toward the stands after realizing the football he launched onto the stands was quarterback Tanner McKee's first career touchdown. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP If Pickett is hurt next week, McKee may be in line to start in the season finale against the New York Giants . Philadelphia will likely sit its key players until the wild-card round of the playoffs begins. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter . Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
American socialism is still a threatJuan Soto Seeking More Than Money in Free Agent Discussions: Report
A video played for inmates at the Pima County jail suggests they use the new Transition Center to help them take the next steps and get help for needs such as housing, substance abuse treatment, transportation and phones. The phrase "lived experience" sounds redundant when you think about it. Of course, any experience you've had, you've lived. But really, in many cases, the phrase isn't so much redundant as it is missing a word — "hard," as in "hard-lived experience." That's what the people who staff the Transition Center outside the Pima County jail bring to their jobs — hard-lived experience. And they try to impart hard-won knowledge to the people who pass through, many of them fresh out of jail. The Transition Center has been operating since summer 2023, when Pima County opened it at 1204 W. Silverlake, just outside the Pima County Adult Detention Center — the jail. It's staffed now by five "justice navigators," with one position still open. They help whoever walks in to overcome the next obstacles they're facing. That might mean going to detox, getting a phone, exploring treatment options, resolving a warrant or finding a place to stay. Doyle Morrison, left, and Bruce Donahue, a justice navigator talk, sit inside Pima County's Transition Center, which opened in the summer of 2023 just outside the jail. Staffing the place, though, required "a shift from normal operating procedures," said Kate Vesely, the county's director of justice services. The hard-lived experiences of these staffers mean that many of them have been in and out of jail, most have felony convictions, some have substance use disorder or serious mental illness — not normally qualifications for a county job. "The whole purpose is to hire individuals with lived experience," said Doyle Morrison, 56, who manages the center. "That is what a peer is, someone with lived experience." This local experiment in peer support appears to be working. County Administrator Jan Lesher reported in November that among the more than 1,100 people served in the first year of the center, fewer than 10% were rearrested within 30 days. That compares to 27% in a control group. When the clients come in and find support from people who've been through it all, that's the "secret sauce," Morrison said. "Everybody in here is a peer," Morrison said. "It disarms them and makes them feel safe." Four of the people who staff the center told him how they try to use their experience to help people in troubled moments take positive steps. 'I take pride in what I do' Rosa Lamadrid has a pointed way of reaching the women she sees. "I tell them, I guarantee I've been arrested more times than you have," Lamadrid said. She estimates she's been released from the jail outside of which she now works hundreds of times. Rosa Lamadrid, a justice navigator at the Pima County Transition Center. "There's nothing these women have went through that I can't share something with them about," she said. Lamadrid, 42, grew up in South Tucson and started using drugs with her mother at age 14, she said. The next nearly 20 years were very rough, with a couple of periods of sobriety and management of her serious mental illness. "To be honest, I've OD'd multiple times," she said. "I've relapsed over and over." "It has been a very sad, traumatic, but also a very powerful experience that has made me who I am today," she said. Somehow, there came a time nine years ago when sobriety stuck. Most of all, Lamadrid said, "I was just tired" and "really, really ready." But also, she wanted to help her family through its struggles and simply support herself. She was fortunate that she had inherited her father's home on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation. Her first job was at a Dollar Tree, she said. In fact, some dollar stores have been good places to start for people with a felony record and a desire to move forward, she said. She went on to work at sober living homes and other places before ending up at the Crisis Response Center. She was recruited from there to join the Transition Center. "I take pride in what I do now, because an individual could come in, and the majority of the time, I think very, very rarely we're unable to place them in, like, a detox or rehab or something like that." The exception is housing — sometimes shelter space is scarce. Still, she said, for people in the situation she used to be in, "Now there are a lot more opportunities." 'In the real thick of it' Todd Auge had been banging around Cochise County, getting high and getting in trouble, for years when his moment of truth came. He had planned to skip out on a ride to Tucson to go to treatment, he said, but instead, he walked a couple of miles to a friend's house and made it here, to the home of that friend's uncle. Once here, though, he went to the Salvation Army and dropped dirty — he had smoked meth too recently. The man at their intake told him, Auge recalled, "I want you to go home and drink water. I'll save your bed for a few days." Todd Auge, a justice navigator at the Pima County Transition Center. Amazingly, he did it. Auge didn't go out and get high — he stayed in and drank water, and after that, went to treatment at the Salvation Army. He's been sober more than eight years. Auge, now 53, got trained in peer support and ended up working in wind power before winding up back in jail — this time working for a social service agency inside. "I was working in the pit in there, so I got a real good crash course in short term case management," he said. "You know, helping folks out in the real thick of it — fresh." Auge made his way outside the jail, to the Transition Center, by applying to the city of Tucson, which funds two of the positions in the center. What he encounters most is what you'd expect — people addicted to fentanyl. Sometimes, what allows him to connect to the people he sees as simple as the tattoos on his arms. What "many people don't get is we don't give a (damn) about ourselves in here," Auge said, referring to people in jail and on drugs. "My big thing is getting them to the next place where they can care about themselves a little bit." Helping Indigenous population When Bruce Donahue grew up in the southern part of the Tohono O'odham Nation, moving drugs and people "was the only homegrown business we had," he said. "You know, it was the way that people were able to put food on the table." When he was finally arrested, Donahue recalled, the DEA considered him the biggest cocaine trafficker on the reservation. At the time, it was a source of pride. "When I got clean, it became a source of a lot of shame and a lot of guilt," Donahue said. "Working a 12-step program and really getting back into my culture helped me work out some of those things, and I continue to work on those things." Donahue, 48, is one of the original staffers who joined the Transition Center in summer 2023. "I like to believe that I am able to work with anybody, but I do have a special interest in working with the indigenous population," he said. He told of one 26-year-old who came through the Transition Center out of jail, got a phone and other help, but later relapsed. Donahue helped hook him up with a new 90-day stay in treatment, but he had also violated parole. The real challenge was going to be dealing with his parole officer. Donahue accompanied the young man to the parole appointment, helped get his warrant quashed and his parole reinstated. "We've really evolved in the time that we've been here to meeting individuals where they're at," he said. 'Attitudes are changing' You wouldn't be finding Morrison, the manager, in this modular building if it weren't for an FBI sting operation. Morrison, then a sergeant in the National Guard, was caught up in Operation Lively Green, the 2002-2004 operation in which undercover federal agents paid military service members, corrections officers and other public employees in Southern Arizona to move drug loads. He had been a well-respected and decorated non-commissioned officer who even participated in a counter-narcotics task force before he got caught playing a minor role in the operation. Morrison doesn't share the experiences of life on the streets that many of his coworkers have had. But he's got the bitter experience of losing the life he once had and working to recover the productive life he once lived. And now he, like the others at the Transition Center, is seeing more public openness to helping people despite their transgressions, or because of their afflictions. The public is more accepting of that hard-lived experience, if people will take a step to change. "Minds and attitudes are changing because this opioid epidemic crosses every boundary," Morrison said. "It touches everybody." Too bad it's taken that for attitudes to change, but a good thing the Transition Center, with its experienced staff, is one of the outcomes. Contact columnist Tim Steller at tsteller@tucson.com or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @timothysteller Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! ColumnistGiants release quarterback Daniel Jones just days after benching him EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The Daniel Jones era in New York is over. The Giants quarterback was granted his release by the team just days after the franchise said it was benching him in favor of third-stringer Tommy DeVito. New York president John Mara said Jones approached the team about releasing him and the club obliged. Mara added he was “disappointed” at the quick dissolution of a once-promising relationship between Jones and the team. Giants coach Brian Daboll benched Jones in favor of DeVito following a loss to the Panthers in Germany that dropped New York's record to 2-8. Conor McGregor must pay $250K to woman who says he raped her, civil jury rules LONDON (AP) — A civil jury in Ireland has awarded more than $250,000 to a woman who says she was raped by mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel penthouse after a night of heavy partying. The jury on Friday awarded Nikita Hand in her lawsuit that claimed McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in 2018. The lawsuit says the assault left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. McGregor testified that he never forced her to do anything and that Hand fabricated her allegations after the two had consensual sex. McGregor says he will appeal the verdict. Week 16 game between Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers flexed to Thursday night spot The Los Angeles Chargers have played their way into another prime time appearance. Justin Herbert and company have had their Dec. 22 game against the Denver Broncos flexed to Thursday night, Dec. 19. Friday’s announcement makes this the first time a game has been flexed to the Thursday night spot. The league amended its policy last season where Thursday night games in Weeks 13 through 17 could be flexed with at least 28 days notice prior to the game. The matchup of AFC West division rivals bumps the game between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals to Sunday afternoon. NBA memo to players urges increased vigilance regarding home security following break-ins MIAMI (AP) — The NBA is urging its players to take additional precautions to secure their homes following reports of recent high-profile burglaries of dwellings owned by Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo sent to team officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the NBA revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Brock Purdy will miss Sunday's game for the 49ers with a shoulder injury SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy will miss Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers with a sore throwing shoulder. Purdy injured his right shoulder in last Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Purdy underwent an MRI that showed no structural damage but the shoulder didn’t improve during the week and Purdy was ruled out for the game. Coach Kyle Shanahan said star defensive end Nick Bosa also will miss the game with injuries to his left hip and oblique. Left tackle Trent Williams is questionable with an ankle injury and will be a game-time decision. Red Bull brings wrong rear wing to Las Vegas in mistake that could stall Verstappen's title chances LAS VEGAS (AP) — Max Verstappen is suddenly in jeopardy of being denied a fourth consecutive Formula 1 title Saturday night. Red Bull apparently brought the wrong rear wing to Las Vegas and GPS data showed its two cars to be significantly slower on the straights than both McLaren and Mercedes, which led both practice sessions. Red Bull says it doesn’t have a replacement rear wing in Las Vegas to fix the issue and little chance of getting two flown in from England ahead of the race. Lawyer says ex-Temple basketball standout Hysier Miller met with NCAA for hours amid gambling probe PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A lawyer for former Temple basketball standout Hysier Miller says the 22-year-old sat for a long interview with the NCAA amid an investigation into unusual gambling activity. But neither the lawyer nor federal law enforcement officials on Friday would confirm reports that a federal probe is now under way. Lawyer Jason Bologna says Miller cooperated because he hopes to play again. Miller was released last month after transferring to Virginia Tech. Temple President John Fry says the Philadelphia school has not been asked for any information from federal law enforcement officials. Caitlin Clark to join Cincinnati bid for 16th National Women's Soccer League team WNBA star Caitlin Clark has joined Cincinnati’s bid for an expansion National Women’s Soccer League team. Major League Soccer franchise FC Cincinnati is heading the group vying to bring a women’s pro team to the city. The club issued a statement confirming Clark had joined the bid group. NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has said the league plans to announce the league’s 16th team by the end of the year. The league's 15th team will begin play in 2026 in Boston. Alyssa Nakken, first full-time female coach in MLB history, leaving Giants to join Guardians CLEVELAND (AP) — Alyssa Nakken, the first woman to coach in an MLB game, is leaving the San Francisco Giants to join the Cleveland Guardians. Nakken made history in 2022 when she took over as first-base coach following an ejection. A former college softball star at Sacramento State, Nakken joined the Giants in 2014 and was promoted to a spot on manager Gabe Kapler’s staff in 2020, becoming the majors’ first full-time female coach. Nakken has been hired as an assistant director within player development for the Guardians, who won the AL Central last season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt. Nakken, 34, will work with former Giants coaches Craig Albernaz and Kai Correa. Aaron Judge won't be bothered if Juan Soto gets bigger contract from Yankees than his $360M deal NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge won’t be bothered if Juan Soto gets a bigger deal from the New York Yankees than the captain’s $360 million, nine-year contract. Speaking a day after he was a unanimous winner of his second MVP, Judge says “It ain’t my money” and adds "that’s never been something on my mind about who gets paid the most.” Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and 129 walks in his first season with the Yankees, then became a free agent at age 26.
UN General Assembly calls for ‘unconditional’ ceasefire in GazaLawyers acknowledge improvements but push for further reforms“Cassoulet, that best of bean feasts, is everyday fare for a peasant but ambrosia for a gastronome.” ~ Julia Child When winter heads our way, bringing chilly temperatures and close, dark nights, my thoughts turn to Cassoulet, the iconic comfort food from southwestern France. It has it all – juicy beans, duck leg confit, sausages and sometimes pork or lamb, slowly simmered in well-seasoned broth, then baked in a wide-mouthed, glazed terra-cotta dish called a cassole . Like any truly traditional dish, there are multiple versions, all claiming to be the “authentic one.” Cassoulet originated in southwestern France. Toulouse claims it — and so does Castelnaudary and Carcassonne — and the recipes vary. Toulouse adherents eschew adding cubed pork. Castelnaudary purists add a bit of lamb, while Carcassonne’s adds partridge. In most restaurants, cassoulets are served in an individual cassole , bubbling with hot juices,and with a bit of duck leg peeking through the top. But at Hostellerie Etienne , a vast indoor- outdoor restaurant on the edge of a forest near Castelnaudary, the cassoulets come to the table in family-size cassoles , big enough to serve two, four, six or even 10 people, so you can share the dish with your dining companions. I don’t know if Etienne’s even has a single-serving bowl size. I didn’t see one, when I was there as the guest of a bean trader from Castelnaudary. According to him, Etiennne’s has the best cassoulet anywhere, and they use the Lauragais lingot beans known as the Castelnaudary bean. Copious doesn’t begin to describe the cassoulet scene there, with stacks of cassoles lined up in Etienne’s kitchen, next to caldrons of simmering beans, ready to be filled and popped into the vast ovens. Here in the Bay Area, we have our own go-to restaurants for cassoulets. Some, like the Left Bank Brasseries in San Jose, Menlo Park, Oakland and Larkspur, and Reve Bistro in Lafayette, only serve it during the winter months as a special. (Reve will be serving cassoulet Dec. 10-14, for example, and Jan. 7-11; reserve it when you reserve your table.) Others, such as Bistro Jeanty in Yountville and Le Central in San Francisco, always have it on the menu. Both Reve Bistro and Bistro Jeanty use cassoles made by potter Kathy Kernes at her Crockett Pottery in Crockett, and they are every bit as beautiful and as practical as those you’ll find in southwestern France. Kernes’ makes cassoles in six sizes ($38-$210), ranging from individual to “extra large plus,” which is very large indeed. (Browse the possibilities at www.crockettpottery.com.) Reve Bistro offers take-out cassoulets if you pre-order the week the dish is on the menu. Pick it up — in a takeout container, not a cassole! — then heat it at home. Just note that chef-owner Paul Magu-Lecugy only makes a limited number of portions. “It’s time consuming,” he says, noting for him, it is a two-day process. Le Central’s cassoulet is one of the more elaborate around, with lamb, pork shoulder and boudin blanc, as well as the all-important duck leg confit and slightly garlicky Toulouse sausage. Left Bank uses chef-owner Roland Passot’s recipe (see below) and keeps it simple, limiting the meats to duck leg confit and Toulouse sausages. (Don’t panic. If you’re making this at home, some specialty markets sell duck confit.) The beans are key to cassoulet. Once cooked, they should not be mushy, but hold their shape after the long cooking. In France, tradition calls for either Tarbais beans, a plump, white bean, or lingot beans — a strain of cannellini beans — in making cassoulet. As Passot suggests in his recipe below, you can substitute cannellini beans or Great Northern beans. Rancho Gordo produces a variety called cassoulet , a West Coast-grown bean from the Tarbais strain. Cassoulet isn’t difficult to make. It just requires time and patience. You can make it a couple of days ahead, refrigerate it and then slowly reheat it. That way, there’s nothing to do on the day of but sip a glass of wine while the beans and meats slowly heat to bubbling. Add a green salad and some crusty bread, and you’ll have the perfect winter meal. Or put your coat on and head to one of our local restaurants, where the cooking is done for you. All you need is a reservation. Left Bank Brasserie Cassoulet Serves 6 to 8 INGREDIENTS Beans: 4 cups dried lingot beans (white kidney, cannellini or Great Northern, will all work) 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped 1 small onion, diced (about 3⁄4 cup) 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 pound slab bacon or extra thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 sprigs of thyme 1 bay leaf Cassoulet: 1⁄4 cup duck fat (lard will do in a pinch) 2 pounds pork butt cut in 2-inch cubes 1 cup onions, diced small 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1⁄4 cup tomato paste 1 small can diced tomatoes 11⁄2-2 cups reserved bean water 6 Toulouse sausages 1 small garlic sausage 4 confit duck legs, purchased or homemade (see note below) 1 cup panko bread crumbs 1 teaspoon garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Note: If you are making your own duck confit, start the night before by rubbing the duck legs with a “green salt” mixture — kosher salt, parsley, a couple of bay leaves and thyme ground together. The next day, rinse the duck legs well, pat dry and place in an oven-safe cooking vessel with enough duck fat to cover the legs. Roast in a 225-degree oven for 21⁄2 to 3 hrs. DIRECTIONS The night before, place the beans in a deep pot and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Let beans soak overnight. The next day, rinse the beans well. Add the rinsed beans, carrots, onions, garlic, bacon, thyme and bay leaf to cold water and cook, over low heat, until the beans are tender. Strain the beans, saving the water, and set aside the beans. In a large braising pan, melt the duck fat over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, brown the pork butt pieces without stirring. When beginning to brown, start stirring, making sure you scrape the bottom if it starts to caramelize. The pork doesn’t need much color, but it does need to cook in the duck fat for a while. Add lots of salt and pepper. This is not a shy dish. When the pork is nice and brown on all sides, add the 1 cup onions and garlic, and sauté until the onions are soft and cooked through. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes and reserved liquid from the beans. Stir, using a rubber spatula to clean the side of the pot. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Bring the heat under the braising pan up to high. Once at a rolling boil, turn down to low heat and add all the sausages. When they are cooked through, remove and set aside. Slice the garlic sausage in half and cut into 1-inch pieces. Return the whole and sliced sausages back to the pot along with the cooked beans. Continue to cook on low heat until the pork is cooked through. Taste for seasoning; add more salt and pepper if needed. Transfer the beans and pork to a heavy, wide mouth, earthenware, clay or cast iron baking dish that can hold 5 to 6 quarts. Bake at 250 degrees for about 11⁄2 hours, checking at least every 30 minutes. It may require a bit more time. If the dish is starting to look too dry, add a small amount of reserved bean broth or chicken stock. Add warmed duck legs to the cassoulet and make a breadcrumb topping by combining the panko, garlic, parsley, thyme and extra virgin olive oil. Return the dish to the oven and continue baking until the crumbs brown on the top. — Courtesy Roland Passot, Propriétaire, Chef Culinary Officer, Vine Hospitality
Volkswagen workers plan to launch extended strikes starting Monday, escalating a heated conflict with management over layoffs and what would be the first factory closures on German soil for Europe's largest automaker, according to a union statement on Thursday. The IG Metall union said workers would down tools for four hours at nine different sites in so-called "warning" strikes across the country, twice as long as the first round of industrial action at the start of December. The walkouts are timed to coincide with the next round of talks between Volkswagen and labor representatives over cost-cutting measures that the company says are vital to staying competitive against rising costs and foreign rivals. Volkswagen on Thursday said the management and workers representatives remained in dialogue to collaboratively develop viable, long-term solutions that balance economic stability and secure employment prospects. The crisis at Europe's largest carmaker has hit Germany at a time of economic uncertainty and domestic political upheaval, as well as wider turmoil among the region's automakers. Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume on Wednesday had defended his decisions as necessary in a rapidly changing environment, saying management could not operate "in a fantasy world." "It borders on mockery when Oliver Blume stands in front of the workforce and wishes them a Merry Christmas, while at the same time, the VW board would prefer to put letters of termination under the Christmas tree for the employees," IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Groeger said on Thursday. "We will now step up our efforts on December 9th and thus increase the pressure on the company at the negotiating table," he said in a statement. Europe's car sector is in turmoil, with thousands of jobs on the line at automakers and their suppliers, all suffering from a weakening market on the continent and a slower-than-expected take-up of electric vehicles. On Monday morning, thousands of VW employees are expected to attend a rally in Wolfsburg, where VW is headquartered, shortly before the start of negotiations. Workers could increase pressure if no agreement is struck during next week's negotiations, union officials have signaled, leading to longer and possibly even open-ended strikes.Former US President Jimmy Carter dead at 100“Cassoulet, that best of bean feasts, is everyday fare for a peasant but ambrosia for a gastronome.” ~ Julia Child When winter heads our way, bringing chilly temperatures and close, dark nights, my thoughts turn to Cassoulet, the iconic comfort food from southwestern France. It has it all – juicy beans, duck leg confit, sausages and sometimes pork or lamb, slowly simmered in well-seasoned broth, then baked in a wide-mouthed, glazed terra-cotta dish called a cassole . Like any truly traditional dish, there are multiple versions, all claiming to be the “authentic one.” Cassoulet originated in southwestern France. Toulouse claims it — and so does Castelnaudary and Carcassonne — and the recipes vary. Toulouse adherents eschew adding cubed pork. Castelnaudary purists add a bit of lamb, while Carcassonne’s adds partridge. In most restaurants, cassoulets are served in an individual cassole , bubbling with hot juices,and with a bit of duck leg peeking through the top. But at Hostellerie Etienne , a vast indoor- outdoor restaurant on the edge of a forest near Castelnaudary, the cassoulets come to the table in family-size cassoles , big enough to serve two, four, six or even 10 people, so you can share the dish with your dining companions. I don’t know if Etienne’s even has a single-serving bowl size. I didn’t see one, when I was there as the guest of a bean trader from Castelnaudary. According to him, Etiennne’s has the best cassoulet anywhere, and they use the Lauragais lingot beans known as the Castelnaudary bean. Copious doesn’t begin to describe the cassoulet scene there, with stacks of cassoles lined up in Etienne’s kitchen, next to caldrons of simmering beans, ready to be filled and popped into the vast ovens. Here in the Bay Area, we have our own go-to restaurants for cassoulets. Some, like the Left Bank Brasseries in San Jose, Menlo Park, Oakland and Larkspur, and Reve Bistro in Lafayette, only serve it during the winter months as a special. (Reve will be serving cassoulet Dec. 10-14, for example, and Jan. 7-11; reserve it when you reserve your table.) Others, such as Bistro Jeanty in Yountville and Le Central in San Francisco, always have it on the menu. Both Reve Bistro and Bistro Jeanty use cassoles made by potter Kathy Kernes at her Crockett Pottery in Crockett, and they are every bit as beautiful and as practical as those you’ll find in southwestern France. Kernes’ makes cassoles in six sizes ($38-$210), ranging from individual to “extra large plus,” which is very large indeed. (Browse the possibilities at www.crockettpottery.com.) Reve Bistro offers take-out cassoulets if you pre-order the week the dish is on the menu. Pick it up — in a takeout container, not a cassole! — then heat it at home. Just note that chef-owner Paul Magu-Lecugy only makes a limited number of portions. “It’s time consuming,” he says, noting for him, it is a two-day process. Le Central’s cassoulet is one of the more elaborate around, with lamb, pork shoulder and boudin blanc, as well as the all-important duck leg confit and slightly garlicky Toulouse sausage. Left Bank uses chef-owner Roland Passot’s recipe (see below) and keeps it simple, limiting the meats to duck leg confit and Toulouse sausages. (Don’t panic. If you’re making this at home, some specialty markets sell duck confit.) The beans are key to cassoulet. Once cooked, they should not be mushy, but hold their shape after the long cooking. In France, tradition calls for either Tarbais beans, a plump, white bean, or lingot beans — a strain of cannellini beans — in making cassoulet. As Passot suggests in his recipe below, you can substitute cannellini beans or Great Northern beans. Rancho Gordo produces a variety called cassoulet , a West Coast-grown bean from the Tarbais strain. Cassoulet isn’t difficult to make. It just requires time and patience. You can make it a couple of days ahead, refrigerate it and then slowly reheat it. That way, there’s nothing to do on the day of but sip a glass of wine while the beans and meats slowly heat to bubbling. Add a green salad and some crusty bread, and you’ll have the perfect winter meal. Or put your coat on and head to one of our local restaurants, where the cooking is done for you. All you need is a reservation. Serves 6 to 8 Beans: 4 cups dried lingot beans (white kidney, cannellini or Great Northern, will all work) 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped 1 small onion, diced (about 3⁄4 cup) 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 pound slab bacon or extra thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 sprigs of thyme 1 bay leaf Cassoulet: 1⁄4 cup duck fat (lard will do in a pinch) 2 pounds pork butt cut in 2-inch cubes 1 cup onions, diced small 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1⁄4 cup tomato paste 1 small can diced tomatoes 11⁄2-2 cups reserved bean water 6 Toulouse sausages 1 small garlic sausage 4 confit duck legs, purchased or homemade (see note below) 1 cup panko bread crumbs 1 teaspoon garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Note: If you are making your own duck confit, start the night before by rubbing the duck legs with a “green salt” mixture — kosher salt, parsley, a couple of bay leaves and thyme ground together. The next day, rinse the duck legs well, pat dry and place in an oven-safe cooking vessel with enough duck fat to cover the legs. Roast in a 225-degree oven for 21⁄2 to 3 hrs. The night before, place the beans in a deep pot and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Let beans soak overnight. The next day, rinse the beans well. Add the rinsed beans, carrots, onions, garlic, bacon, thyme and bay leaf to cold water and cook, over low heat, until the beans are tender. Strain the beans, saving the water, and set aside the beans. In a large braising pan, melt the duck fat over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, brown the pork butt pieces without stirring. When beginning to brown, start stirring, making sure you scrape the bottom if it starts to caramelize. The pork doesn’t need much color, but it does need to cook in the duck fat for a while. Add lots of salt and pepper. This is not a shy dish. When the pork is nice and brown on all sides, add the 1 cup onions and garlic, and sauté until the onions are soft and cooked through. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes and reserved liquid from the beans. Stir, using a rubber spatula to clean the side of the pot. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Bring the heat under the braising pan up to high. Once at a rolling boil, turn down to low heat and add all the sausages. When they are cooked through, remove and set aside. Slice the garlic sausage in half and cut into 1-inch pieces. Return the whole and sliced sausages back to the pot along with the cooked beans. Continue to cook on low heat until the pork is cooked through. Taste for seasoning; add more salt and pepper if needed. Transfer the beans and pork to a heavy, wide mouth, earthenware, clay or cast iron baking dish that can hold 5 to 6 quarts. Bake at 250 degrees for about 11⁄2 hours, checking at least every 30 minutes. It may require a bit more time. If the dish is starting to look too dry, add a small amount of reserved bean broth or chicken stock. Add warmed duck legs to the cassoulet and make a breadcrumb topping by combining the panko, garlic, parsley, thyme and extra virgin olive oil. Return the dish to the oven and continue baking until the crumbs brown on the top. — Courtesy Roland Passot, Propriétaire, Chef Culinary Officer, Vine Hospitality