Clare Teal: It's cold outside, so time to cook up some winter warmers

In between practising Christmas songs for the good people of Burnley Mechanics and surrounding areas on December 15, I have been cooking a lot of winter grub. The crockpot is in overdrive, Boeuf Bourguignon is a definite favourite, which thankfully even I can't get very wrong, admittedly peeling 24 shallots is a fiddly faff, but well worth the effort.

I've also discovered a wicked slow-cook Thai red beef curry, which I am loving!

It's like a basic beef stew with garlic, chillies, coconut milk, tomatoes, potatoes, cashew nuts a bit of sugar and a whodge of er… Thai red curry paste. The flavour is wonderfully intense but not too hot. The potatoes in particular really soak up the spices and are, I think, my favourite bit.

Next on the list to try, until last night, was Jamaican goat curry. Apparently, goat is tricky to track down in this country (can't imagine why, says Muddy), but stewing cuts of mutton are a good alternative. Hugh Fearnley Wotnot marinades his meat in a wealth of spices over night then slow cooks for up to three hours. The recipe serves six, but, as Muddy and Our Hero have already refused to even be in the same building if I attempt to cook a goat, it's a lot of food for one person to wade through.

So it may well have to wait a while yet especially as last night our friend Rosie cooked the miracle that is cassoulet canard. Oh, was it good! A complete taste revelation. I'm sure you guys have all been eating cassoulet for years, but if there's anyone out there who hasn't, it's a traditional French slow-cooked dish dating back to the 14th century comprising of beans, pork belly, bacon, garlic, herbs and confit duck legs (duck preserved in it's own fat). I seriously thought I'd died and gone to heaven – mind you I suppose I actually could have, given the amount of fat in the duck – but what a way to go!

It is now my life's mission to learn to cook cassoulet canard no matter how much practice is required.