Potée Lorraine

Potée Lorraine
Preparation time: three hours;

Serves approximately six people:

One cup of dried white beans

1 pound of cooking sausage (Italian sausage is fine),
Two pounds of pork shoulder or pork filet, using the smoked variety if available.

Eight ounces of bacon, chopped
One ripe, green cabbage
Four carrots, diced
Two turnips or one rutabaga, diced
Two leeks, white and light green parts chopped

Ten small potatoes
Two cups of trimmed green string beans
Two onions, one of them chopped and one of them left whole, spiked with 3 cloves
Two garlic cloves, ends cut-off and then crushed
One bouquet garni

Directions:
Soak the white beans overnight.

In a large cast-iron or other heavy pot, sautée the chopped bacon. Add the onion, chopped leeks, finely diced carrots and turnips. Stir-in the crushed garlic, and drop-in the bouquet garni.
Cover the pot and allow the vegetables to sweat for 15 min. Then add the pork shoulder and cover with water. Add salt, pepper, and the spiked onion.
Simmer for 1 hour.
Cut the cabbage into quarters, add it to the pot, discarding its core. Add some water or stock and leave to simmer for another hour and a half.

Add the sausage (pricked with a needle to ensure even cooking), green beans (peeled, washed and cut into long “sticks”) and the peeled potatoes.
Add water if needed and leave to cook for 30 more minutes. The total cooking time will be about 3 hours.
Place the white beans and other vegetables in a large, sturdy serving dish. Slice the meats and peeled sausage, and place them on top. Allow your guests to serve themselves.