A pot-au-feu is a french beef stew, which uses mostly inexpensive cuts of beef that need to be cooked for quite a long time in a bouillon seasoned with root vegetables and a bouquet garni.

According to the french chef Raymond Blanc, pot-au-feu is “the quintessence of French family cuisine, it is the most celebrated dish in France. It honours the tables of the rich and poor alike.”

It is a perfect dish for a cold January day and even when the meat and vegetables are gone you can get another meal out of it by using the broth as a soup. In France this broth is usually served with special soup pasta called cheveux d’ange (or angel hair in english) added to it.

I make this using my pressure cooker as do most french people. So I am estimating that it will take 2 to 3 hours in a regular saucepan.  If using a pressure cooker, you’ll need to cook the dish at first for 30 minutes and then remove the carrots, leeks and turnips before continuing to cook the meat and seasoning for another 45 minutes.

Ingredients :

• 1.2kg stewing beef (I usually use cheek and tail)
• 2 marrow bones (optional!)
• 1 onion studded with 3 cloves
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 leeks
• 1 kilo carrots
• 3-4 small turnips
• I branch of celery
• Bouquet Garni
• Salt and Pepper
• Potatoes to serve

Method :

1. Peel and wash the leeks, carrots and slice in half
2. Peel and wash turnips and chop in large chunks
3. Fill a large saucepan with 2 litres of water and add the clove studded onion, the carrots, the leeks, the turnips, the garlic cloves, the celery branch and the bouquet garni.
4. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil, then add the meat
5. Cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes, removing  the foam the comes to the surface (this is called “écumer” in french!)
6. Put the lid on the saucepan and cook for approximately 3 hours until the meat is really well cooked
7. Wash and peel potatoes and cook them separately in a saucepan of salted water
8. When your pot-au-feu is ready you can serve the broth as a starter or enjoy it the following day – its a meal in itself, really tasty and full of goodness 🙂
9. Serve with potatoes, gherkins and strong mustard
10. If you are having the marrow bones serve with toasted bread

Pot-au-Feu Ingredients (Image from Wikipedia)

Beef bourguignon (sometimes also called beef burgundy in english) is a well known traditional french recipe and comes from the Burgundy region of France as do many other famous french dishes such as snails and the delicious appetizer gougères which I recently posted the recipe for.

Ingredients :

• 1 kg of braising steak
• 6 carrots
• 1 onion pierced with 2 cloves
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 orange
• Bouquet Garni
• 100g bacon lardons
• 50g butter
• 75cl (1 bottle) of dry red wine preferable a burgundy wine
• 1 tablespoon of tomato concentrate
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Salt & Pepper

Method :

1. The day before put the beef into a large bowl with the red wine, the juice and zest of the orange, the onion with cloves, the clove of garlic, the bouquet garni and the sugar, then cover and leave in the fridge overnight
2. The next day strain the marinade. In a large saucepan brown the meat in the butter
3. Add the flour and the tomato puree
4. Cook for 5 minutes over a gentle heat mixing all the time, then add the marinade and aromates (onion, garlic, bouquet garni)
5. Add the carrots, chopped into large chunks
6. Season and bring to a simmer. Give everything a good stir, then cover.
7. Cook over a low heat for 2 hours (until the meat is well cooked) The lower the heat and the slower the cooking, the better
8. Place the lardons in a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil for 3 minutes to blanch them, drain once done
9. If the meat sauce is not thick enough, remove the meat and garniture from the pan and cook the sauce until it thickens
10. Put the meat and garniture back in the pan with the lardons, cook altogether for 5 minutes  over a low heat
11. Serve with mashed potatoes

Beef Bourguignon