Recipe: Flageolets

Flageolets are the vegetable of choice for Sunday leg of lamb, but they're also smart everyday cooking when you make them a basic side dish. Arpajonnaise comes from the region where they've been grown for ages. It's mainly a fall and winter dish, when you want something warm and comforting, but you can serve it warm in summer with cold poultry. On a technical level, the old-timers would joke about them, calling them « the musicians » because of digestive issues. Hence the trick with baking soda and blanching: it removes a good portion of the complex sugars that ferment. Really count on 5 minutes of boiling before draining, then the real cooking with carrot, studded onion, garlic and fresh herbs. For wine, go for a dry white without pretension: a Sancerre, a Chablis, or a Muscadet. With the half-salted butter cream, the white holds up well. Avoid light reds, too pale against the richness of the dish. For classic accompaniments, a rosy leg of lamb remains the reference, but roasted poultry or pan-fried river fish work well too. The carrot from the broth, cut it into small cubes and put it back in with the beans: that's already good as is.