Pot-au-feu
Warm up with a hearty pot-au-feu, featuring tender beef and vibrant veggies simmered to perfection.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg beef for simmering, such as shank, short rib, or chuck
- 2 oxtail joints
- 4 carrots
- 3 leeks
- 2 onions
- 3 turnips
- 2 stalks celery
- 800 g potatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 whole peppercorns
- 2 tbsp coarse salt
- 3 l water
How to make it
- Pat the beef and oxtail dry with paper towel. Put them in a large pot with the water, bay leaves, peppercorns and coarse salt, then bring slowly to a bare simmer, skimming off the grey foam that rises.
- Keep the pot at a very gentle simmer for 2 hours, with only a few lazy bubbles breaking the surface, until the meat is starting to loosen from the bones.
- Peel the onions and cut them in half. Add them to the pot with the carrots, turnips and celery, then simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are partly tender.
- Trim the leeks, split them lengthwise and rinse out any grit. Add them whole and simmer for 20 minutes more, until the leeks are silky and the carrots are tender but still hold their shape.
- Add the potatoes and cook for 20 to 25 minutes until they are fully tender and the broth tastes rounded and well salted.
- Lift out the beef, oxtail and vegetables and let the meat rest for 5 minutes before slicing or pulling into large pieces.
- Arrange the beef, oxtail and vegetables in a wide shallow bowl and ladle the clear broth over them so the roots and leeks sit partly exposed at the surface.
