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Pot-au-feu photograph selected by Christopher.

Beef, veal, steak & offal

Pot-au-Feu

By Chef Simon

Pot-au-feu gives you tender beef, sweet winter vegetables and a broth that deserves as much attention as the meat. Carrots, turnips and leeks cook with cloves, thyme and bay, while marrow adds a rich, soft mouthful. Chef Simon uses a mixture of beef cuts to give the pot its balance. Serve the meat and vegetables with the strained broth, adding parsley potatoes and a sharp gribiche or ravigote sauce alongside.

Prep
30 min
Cook
2 hr 30 min
Total
3 hr
Serves6
Jump to recipe ↓Chef Simon ↗

Ingredients

Beef, vegetables and broth

Method

  1. Wash, peel and cut carrots and turnips evenly. Peel garlic and onions; stud onions with cloves.
  2. Clean leeks, tie their greens and cut the whites into pieces. Rinse beef; tie oxtail pieces if using. Hold marrow bones in cold water.
  3. Put aromatics and tied leek greens in the casserole. Add beef and cold water to cover.
  4. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook 90 minutes, timing from simmering.
  5. Add carrots, turnips, leek whites and salt; cook one hour.
  6. Meanwhile, poach marrow bones separately in some simmering broth for 10–15 minutes, depending on size.
  7. Lift out meat and vegetables; serve with marrow bones and strained broth.

Equipment

Large casserole with lid; Saucepan for marrow bones; Knife and chopping board; Kitchen string; Bowl for soaking marrow bones; Fine sieve and slotted spoon

Notes

  • Choosing the beef: ask for a mixture of the suggested cuts. The source gives a combined weight, with no fixed proportions of each cut.
  • Simmering: keep the casserole covered and the water just simmering. Count the first 90 minutes from the start of that simmer, then add the cut vegetables and salt for the remaining hour.
  • Marrow: cook the bones in a separate saucepan with some of the simmering broth. Allow the stated 10–15 minutes according to their size.
  • Accompaniments: cook potatoes separately in water or broth and finish with parsley. Gribiche or ravigote sauce gives the meat a sharp accompaniment; a young red Burgundy is Chef Simon’s suggested wine.
  • Broth for another meal: freeze it for a soup or as a cooking liquid, clarify it into consommé, or heat it with vermicelli and serve with buttered bread.

Photos

11 photos
Pot-au-feuIngredientsThe beef cuts and marrow bonesPot-au-feuStep 1Cut carrots, turnips, garlic and onionsPot-au-feuStep 2Prepared leek greens and whitesPot-au-feuStep 3Aromatics and leek greens in the potPot-au-feuStep 3Add beef and cold waterPot-au-feuStep 4Gently simmer the beefPot-au-feuStep 5Add the cut vegetablesPot-au-feuStep 6Poach the marrow bones separatelyPot-au-feuFinished dishMeat and vegetables after simmeringBeef pot-au-feu with vegetables and broth.ServingPot-au-feu with beef, vegetables and marrowPot-au-feuServingServe with the strained broth

Pot-au-Feu

Recipe photos

About this dish

The name pot-au-feu originally described the vessel in which meat and vegetables cooked in water over the fire. Recorded from the seventeenth century, it came to mean the meal itself. The traditional combination of beef cuts, marrow bones and vegetables makes good use of the whole pot: the cooking liquid becomes a broth to serve or save.

For Chef Simon, a successful family pot-au-feu starts at the butcher’s counter. Shin, oxtail, blade, shoulder and neck offer different balances of lean meat, fat and gelatin. Choosing a mixture gives the broth richness without letting any one quality dominate. He champions this simple version, reassuring a reader who missed an older recipe that it was just as delicious.

His care continues with a covered, gentle simmer. The meat starts first, and the cut vegetables join later so they flavour the broth and remain enjoyable to eat. Separately poached marrow bones complete the dish.

Recipe and cooking notes adapted from Chef Simon.