Ingredients
prepare a stock from the bones and trimmings, with an onion, garlic, carrot and seasoning, and water barely to cover
best end of neck joint, consisting of eight cutlets
a couple of chopped shallots
3 or 4 whole cloves of garlic
large glass of red wine
12oz of medium sized and long, rather than round, white haricot beans
1 carrot
1 onion
a bouquet of herbs
a piece of celery
3-4 skinned chopped tomatoes
a little butter
Method
1. The carre is the French butcher's term for the best end of neck joint, consisting of eight cutlets. It is trimmed exactly as the cutlets would be if they were to be cut separately for grilling, with the chine bone and most of the fat removed, so that only the actual cutlets with their bones are left. Neatly tied, it makes a compact little joint, very easy to cook and carve, and suitable for a small party when a leg and saddle would be too much. It should make ample helpings for four.
2. First of all, prepare a stock from the bones and trimmings, with an onion, garlic, carrot and seasoning, and water barely to cover. Simmer for an hour or so, strain, leave to cool and skim off the fat. This stock is for basting the joint, so only a breakfast cup is needed.
3. To cook the joint, butter the roasting tin, lay the joint in it fat side up, and cover with a thickly-buttered greasproof paper or aluminium foil. Put a lid on the roasting-tin, and put in the centre of a preheated oven at 190C/380F/Gas5. After about 20 minutes remove the paper and baste the meat with the juices in the pan and some of the prepared stock, heated. Altogether, the joint will take about 50 minutes to cook and should be basted three or four times, being left uncovered for the last 10 minutes so that the outer coating of fat browns. Red wine instead of stock can, if preferred, be used for basting. In this case, pour a large glass of red wine into a saucepan, add either a couple of chopped shallots or 3 or 4 whole cloves of garlic, and boil until the wine is reduced by half. Use in the same way as the stock.
4. When the meat is cooked, keep it hot in a large shallow serving dish. Put the rest of your stock or wine into the roasting-pan, scrape up all the juices, let it bubble a minute and add a little of it to the prepared haricot beans and serve the rest separately.
5. The dried haricot beans are cooked a la bretonne. 12oz of medium sized and long, rather than round, white haricot are soaked over night if for lunch, or for 6-8 hours (which is quite long enough provided the beans are those of the current season and not a couple of years old) if for dinner. Drain them, simmer them in water to cover by 2in , with a carrot, an onion, a bouquet of herbs and a piece of celery. According to the quality of the beans they may take anything from 1½ to 3 hours. So it is best, if you don't know your beans, to prepare them in advance. They have to be reheated anyhow. When they are tender, but not broken, drain them, reserving the liquid, and season well with salt. Extract the carrot and the herbs and throw them away. Chop the onion and fry it in butter. Add 3 or 4 skinned and chopped tomatoes and cook till soft, thinning with a little of the reserved cooking liquid. The beans are gently reheated in this mixture, the juice from the roast being added when they are ready. The beans are then turned into the serving dish round the meat or, if prefered, served in a separate dish. Little paper frills are slipped on to the end of the bones, and the joint is carved straight down into cutlets.
6. If you like, a bearnaise sauce can be served with the lamb; in which case you wouldn't really need the gravy as well, except a little to mix with the beans.
7. The ordinary English cut of the best end of neck can, of course, be cooked in the same way, allowing a little longer cooking time.
