Robert was, apparently, a former employee of Stephanie Alexander who had a way with dried beans. And based on this recipe (under dried beans, page 89 of the book), this would seem to be true – at least as far as I am concerned but then, I don’t mind the odd bean based meal.
This recipe had the added advantage of including artichokes. This was only the second time I had prepared artichokes and despite reading how to do it in the chapter on these veges in the book, I am still not sure I did it right. Maybe youtube is the way to go. And for a first, I got to cook the artichokes in a blanc which is a combination of flour whisked into water, lemon juice and (in this case) some thyme which prevents the artichoke from discolouring (see below).
All in all, a good recipe but not one that (despite my best efforts) received the highest rating possible and it had to settle for a hearty ‘would eat it again’ rating from the punters at dinner on Sunday night. Which is good, because I liked it and I cook dinner and so it will definitely be made again in the future.
Cooking the "Cooks Companion" 
Looks good to me – what sort of flavouring is in the bean mix? I’ve always wanted to try cooking artichokes but they look a bit scary – as does the dirty looking dishwater you cooked them in!
The beans were cooked with a carrots, celery and onions as well as thyme and parsley springs and a bay leaf. Once cooked they were cooked with the artichokes in a little stock so that there ended up being creamy which did not really come through in the photo. Give it a go. I will come over and help you eat them!