"Tough" cuts of meat like beef chuck or pork shoulder work best in slow-cooked stews. As the meat cooks, the muscle fibers break down, tenderizing the meat until it literally "falls off the bone." I like a good bit of fat in the meat I use for this dish. The cannelini beans drink up the meat fat as it slowly melts into the rich broth.

This recipe is actually a good use of leftover roasted meats like prime rib or lamb. When I created this recipe, I used a leftover leg of lamb that had been dusted with lavender and spit-roasted on the barbecue. The lamb was incredibly tender and flavorful and the beans and stock picked up the lovely perfume of the lavender.

Heat the oven to 300°.

Season the lamb meat with the herbes de Provence, salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the lamb and sauté until it is brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Note: Don't crowd the sauté pan, you may need to brown about half of the lamb, remove it from the sauté pan and then brown the remaining lamb.

Put the drained cannelini beans in the bottom of a heavy clay pot roaster. Pour 5 cups of the beef stock over the beans. Place the whole garlic cloves on top of the beans. Add the sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Place the browned lamb meat on top of the beans. Place the lid on the roaster and place it in the oven.

Roast the lamb and beans in the oven for 4 hours. Add additional beef stock during roasting if the beans become to dry.

Ladle the lamb stew into bowls and serve with chunks of crusty sourdough and a hearty cabernet sauvignon.