- 1.5 kg (3 pounds) beef with bone (plat de cote)
- 300 gr. (11 ounces) bacon in stripes or cubes
- 10 pearl onions, peeled
- 3 chopped cloves of garlic
- 4 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into 4 cm cubes
- 2 leeks, washed and cut into 1 cm rings
- 5 tomatoes, chopped and peeled
- 200 ml (1 cup) beef stock
- all purpose flour
Recipe:
• Brown meat in frying pan, adding salt and pepper. Sprinkle a
little flour over the meat while turning over. Place meat into
oven proofed casserole or even better into a slow cooker.
• Briefly fry bacon, onions, garlic, carrots, than add tomatoes,
leek and beef stock. Bring to the boil and add to casserole or
slow cooker.
• Cook at low temperature (150 Celsius) for about 5 hours or until
the meat falls of the bone.
• Serve with potatoes (boiled or fried).
Notes:
Depending on the meat being used, a Pot au Feu can be very rich. If you would like
a leaner version, prepare it the day before and allow to cook overnight. Once
cooled the fat will rise to the surface and it can be skimmed off. The dish can then
be re-warmed.
Pot au Feu is often served with mustard and course salt.
After removing and serving the meat and vegetables, there will be a delicious sauce
left over. This can be used for making soup, as a base for a sauce or for cooking
vegetables in.
For a Pot au Feu with a Mediterranean flavour, modify the recipe by reducing the
amount of meat, increasing the amount of vegetables and adding herbs.
History:
Pot au Feu is French for “pot on the fire”. In other words, a stew or
stock pot which is left cooking over the fire. In previous times, it may
simply have been a cooking pot which was left over the fire, into
which was thrown whatever food and scraps happened to be
available. Often the meat was either scraps, or relatively poor cuts
which needed a long time to cook in order to be tender. In historical
terms, it was a dish for relatively poor people.
Today in France, one can buy “pot au feu” meat. Expect this to be
meat which reflects the historical background of this dish: relatively
inexpensive and inferior cuts, which will soften with long slow
cooking. While such meat is quite adequate for a Pot au Feu, feel free
to use better cuts if you wish.
As a Pot au Feu is historically a stew-like dish of whatever meat and
vegetables were available, there are no absolute guidelines about
what it should contain. However, in general it will contain beef, some
bones (such as ox-tail) which have either marrow or cartilage (or
both, depending on which bones are used), vegetables (such as
carrots, onions, leeks, turnips) and spices. Due to concerns about
CJD, this recipe excludes bones.
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