Pot-au-feu (Boiled Meat and Vegetables)
Pot-au-feu is a typical and rustic French dish made of low-cost beef pieces and vegetables. There are many variants in France and other countries.
- Prep
- 31 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 12 min
- Total
- 1 hr 43 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
Drive the cloves into the onions, so it will be easier to take them off after cooking.
Procedure
Peel the onions. Cut them in half and burn the cut surface in a frying pan protected with aluminum foil. The cut surface must become completely black. It will bring a slightly "smoked" taste and the typical golden brown color to the broth.Finished burned onions
Procedure
While burning the onions, peel and cut the turnips, carrots, celery into large pieces.
Procedure
For the leeks, cut the root, wash well the green part and cut them in 2–3 pieces. Even the green, more fibrous part is used.
Procedure
For the white cabbage, if you took a quarter of a white cabbage, let it in one piece.
Procedure
In a pressure cooker, put all the vegetables, ground pepper and the bouquet garni. Try to arrange them so that they take a minimum space. Add enough water to cover the vegetables (warning: a pressure cooker should not be filled more than ⅔ to ¾ of its capacity; check on the user's guide of your pressure cooker). If you cannot cover the vegetables with water, just add as much water as you can.Pot-au-feu vegetables in a pressure cooker, ready to be cooked.
Procedure
Add salt and cook the vegetables under pressure for 20 minutes.
Procedure
Put the pressure cooker under cold water so you can open it, and reserve the vegetables. Throw away the onions and the bouquet garni.
Procedure
Now you should have a golden brown broth. Taste it and add more salt or pepper if necessary. Note that it does not have its final taste since you have not cooked the meat inside it yet.
Procedure
Put the meat inside the broth. Cook for 60–75 minutes under pressure.
Procedure
If you use marrowbones, cook them apart or cook them under pressure for 5 minutes with the meat.
Procedure
Put the pressure cooker under cold water so you can open it. Take the meat off and put the vegetables back into the broth. Allow the broth to boil to warm them up while you are slicing the meat.
Notes, tips, and variations
Generally speaking, use approximately 2–2.5 kg vegetables per 1 kg meat.[1]
Notes, tips, and variations
For celery (root or branches), turnips and cabbage, choose in-season vegetables (which are also usually the cheapest). You can also use old-style vegetables (see section Variants below).
Notes, tips, and variations
Pot-au-feu is probably the number one dish to be considered (in France) as tasting better the day after. As such, you can cook it the day before you invite your guests and warm it up when you want to serve it.
Notes, tips, and variations
Also can you deep-freeze the broth as a base for a soup or use the meat (and possibly vegetables) for stuffing. Both are used for the making of Fleischschnacka (a specialty from Alsace).
Notes, tips, and variations
Many people add potatoes to their pot-au-feu but use only potatoes which resist to cooking without falling apart (Amandine, Charlotte or Ratte varieties, for example). Use one small potato per person.
Notes, tips, and variations
The pot-au-feu is also a great opportunity to cook old vegetables which have recently regained interest: rutabaga, parsnip, old species of carrots, etc.
Photo: Andre · CC BY-SA 3.0 · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 18 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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