Have you ever read Five Quarters of the Orange or Blackberry Wine? Or maybe you've heard of the novel Chocolat or have seen the popular movie with Juliette Binoche and johnny depp?

Well, the author of these beautifully spun tales, Joanne Harris, also has two cookbooks, The French Kitchen and The French Market. Both contain stunning photographs and a variety of mouth-watering French recipes. In addition, Ms. Harris is generously donating all of her proceeds from the books to Médecins Sans Frontières.

My mom gave me The French Market one Christmas and I have found its recipes to be both accessible and delicious! This lamb dish I cooked last week made a wonderful, rich meal of lamb cooked with creamy, tomato and rosemary infused white beans.




Agneau Aux Haricots Blancs
Braised Lamb With White Beans
serves 6

14 ounces dried white kidney (cannellini) beans, soaked in cold water overnight
1/4 cup olive oil
1 (4 pound) leg of lamb
3 red onions, chopped
16 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (750 ml) bottle hearty red wine
2 (28 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup lamb, beef or chicken stock
3 sprigs rosemary
1 or 2 fresh hot red chiles, seeded and diced
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Drain the beans and place in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole over medium-high heat. Add the lamb and cook on all sides until golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the onions to the pot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the beans, wine, tomatoes, stock, rosemary and chile, then season with salt and pepper. Return the lamb to the pot. Cook, uncovered, checking occasionally to be sure that the liquid hasn't boiled away and adding water as needed, until the beans are tender, about 1 ½ hours.
Serve hot.

My notes: It needed about 2 hours to cook.
Use dried beans. Canned beans would probably fall apart from the long cooking time