|
A distressingly pretty adolescent, who must have been an intern aide-chef, jumped up. "Please sit here. We're having a pot au feu. I made it myself, and in all modesty it's really not bad at all. It's just some beef cheeks and veal shanks we couldn't use and a few carrots, leeks, and potatoes, and, of course, my secret spices." The extent of his pride in what was probably the first meal they had let him make all by himself was beyond charming.
The table erupted in laughter. "Secret spices, my ass! How secret is a bay leaf, a bunch of thyme, and a pinch of pepper?" said a man at the table. "Mind you," he winked conspiratorially at Capucine, "if you could talk him out of one of the marrow bones he put in there and spread the marrow on a slice of baguette dipped in the broth, you'd have a dish fit for Chef himself!"
|
The origins of pot au feu go back into the mists of French history. Conventional wisdom has it that the dish is a civilized form of the stew that cooked all winter long in an iron marmite in over the fire in the peasant's hovel, with bits of meat and root vegetables and whatever else was available thrown in every now and then to replace what had been consumed.
Obviously, there is no hard-and-fast recipe for pot au feu. The one that follows is the French classic but can be modified freely. Like all slow cooked food, the dish is virtually foolproof. |
Lean beef, 1 pound, tied with kitchen string
Fatty beef, 1 pound, tied with kitchen string
Oxtail, ½ pound, cut into three-inch section
Marrow bones, 2 pounds, sawed by the butcher into three-inch sections
Rock salt
Leeks, 4
Carrots, 4
Celery stick, 1
Yellow onions, 2
Cloves, 2
Garlic clove, 1
Bouquet garni, 1 (parsley stems, thyme, bay leaf tied between two sections of celery with kitchen string)
Black peppercorns, 12
Mustard, strong and cheap, to taste
Pickles, small cornichon French style
|
Wrap the marrow bones in muslin so the marrow doesn't leak out and cloud the broth.
Peel the carrots, leeks, and celery stick and rinse them.
Stud one of the onions with the cloves.
Roast the other onion in the stove for a few minutes until it browns. This will color the broth.
Put the meat in a heavy dutch oven of the Le Cruset type dutch oven with one and half gallons of cold water and two or three healthy pinches of rock salt and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down until it just simmers. Skim off the foam until it is no longer produced.
Add carrots, leeks (loosely bound with string), the bouquet garni, the celery, the two onions, and the garlic clove, and the pepper grains.
Bring the water back to a boil and then turn down the heat to the merest simmer. Cover with the lid, leaving a quarter inch crack to allow the steam to escape. Simmer for four hours or more.
When the time is up, take the string off the meat, the muslin from the bones, release the leeks from their bondage, and serve piping hot in a platter with an inch or two of the broth. The dish is usually topped off with crunchy rock salt and sharp mustard and accompanied by small French cornichon pickles. Serve with a baguette cut on the diagonal into two inch slices to mop up the broth and to spread with the marrow.
|
|
You can also add turnips, cabbage, and potatoes to your pot au feu. The turnips should be peeled and cut in half and added fifty minutes before the end. The cabbage should be cut in half or four depending on the size, peeled, rinsed in water mixed with some red vinegar, and added 40 minutes before the end. The potatoes should be cut in half or quarters and boiled on their own until done, starting in cold water (about 25 minutes of boiling time). At the very end the fully cooked potatoes can be thrown in the pot au feu for a minute or two.
The roasted onion will give the broth a healthy tan. If you can get your hands on a French supermarket product called Patrelle "Arome," a few drops will give the broth a deep St. Tropez bronze glow. It will have no effect whatsoever on the taste.
You will be left with a good quantity of broth. Freeze and cherish it. It can be used for soup, beef stock, or any number of other recipes.
|
|
|
