The following recipe is a supplement to the Dining feature "Now, that's good readin'" and is reprinted with permission from La Régalade: Simple French Bistro Food at Home (Whitecap Books, $29.95). All rights reserved.

Seven-Hour Leg of Lamb
(Gigot d'agneau sept heures)

This must be close to a record for slow cooking! We're a very long way from the al dente vegetables we're now used to cooking. Beautiful bright colours-but we sometimes forget that braising really brings out the flavours. Serve this dish with a spoon; you don't need a knife because the meat is so tender.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: hours
Serves 8

2 tablespoons canola oil
One four- to five-pound (2- to 2.2-kilogram) boneless leg of lamb (ask your butcher)
2 onions, peeled, washed, and cut in small cubes
1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled, and crushed
2 carrots, peeled, washed, and cut in small cubes
3 cups lamb stock (fine food markets)
1 pound (500 grams) pork skin (optional, ask your butcher)
A few sprigs thyme
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper

• Heat half of the oil in a Dutch oven and sear the lamb on all sides. When seared, rest the lamb on a plate. In the same pot, heat the remaining oil and cook the onions, crushed garlic cloves, and carrots until they are golden brown. Remove the vegetables from the pot and set aside on a plate.
• Preheat the oven to 200í‚ °F (95í‚ °C).
• Heat the stock in a saucepan. Cover the bottom of the Dutch oven with the pork skin and place the leg of lamb on it. Add the reserved vegetables, thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, white wine, and warm stock. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in preheated oven for 7 hours.
• With a ladle, transfer the gravy into a sauce dish. Present the lamb in the stewing pot and serve it on hot, shallow plates with spoons.

Suggested wines
Pomerol, Vieux Chíƒ ¢teau-Certan, France Meritage, Jackson Triggs, B.C.