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Provencal Pot au Feu a Traditional Recipe from France

Growing up, the beginning of winter was marked by the first pot au feu appearing on our table. My mother’s version is more traditional and typical of what you would find in most homes. It is made with different cuts of beef that are slowly simmered together. The vegetables are cooked afterward in the resulting broth, then served together on a giant platter at the table with cornichon, horseradish sauce, tomato sauce, and mustard.

Traditional Provencal Pot au Feu Recipe from Provence

Traditional Pot au Feu from Provence

Chef François de Mélogue
My mother’s traditional Pot au Feu is typical of what you would find in most Provençal homes. It is made with different cuts of beef that are slowly simmered together and served on a giant platter at the table with traditional condiments.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes
Course Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine French, Provencal
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

For the Beef and Broth:

  • 3 lbs beef short ribs or shanks or oxtails
  • 2 lbs beef brisket
  • 1 sweet onion cut in half, studded with 6 cloves, then charred under your broiler
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 bunch winter savory
  • 1 large sprig fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp herbes de Provence
  • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 1 head garlic

For the Vegetables:

  • 4 leeks white and light green parts, cut into 3-inch lengths, halved, and washed well
  • 8 thin carrots halved and cut into 3-inch lengths
  • 8 small turnips peeled and left whole, or 4 medium turnips, cut in half

For the Pork Broth, Potatoes, and Cabbage:

  • 8 cups cold water
  • 10 oz salted pork (petit salé) meaty
  • 8 small potatoes
  • 1/4 head cabbage use green cabbage

For the Horseradish Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 8 marrow bones canoe-cut, or 8 slices of poached bone marrow. See notes.
  • fleur de sel
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • whole grain mustard
  • Dijon mustard
  • cornichons (pickles)
  • 1 cup tomato sauce Use whatever recipe you have.

Instructions
 

Prepare the Beef and Beef Broth:

  • In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, combine the short ribs and brisket, cover with cold water, and bring to a rapid boil over high heat. With tongs, transfer the meat to a large bowl and discard the water (this is done to create a clear broth). Rinse out the pot, return the meat to the pot, and add the onion, bay leaf, savory, thyme, herbes de Provence, salt, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, and garlic. Add cold water to cover everything by 1 inch.
  • Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. As soon as it boils, reduce the heat so it barely simmers (see Notes below). Cook until the meat is so tender that a knife passes through it with no resistance, about 3 hours.
  • Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the meat, keeping both the liquid and the beef. Discard the vegetables. Transfer the beef to a warm platter.

Prepare the Pork Broth, Potatoes, and Cabbage:

  • In a saucepot, combine the water and salt pork and bring to a rapid boil over high heat. Remove any scum that floats to the top, then reduce the heat so it is barely simmering and cook for 1.5 hours. 30 minutes before the beef is done, add the potatoes and cabbage to the pork broth and cook until they are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove and keep them warm.
  • Strain the meat and vegetables out, keeping the liquid for another use. Save the salt pork for another dish. Transfer the vegetables to the serving platter.

Prepare the Vegetables:

  • About 30 minutes before the beef is done, wrap the leeks in cheesecloth and drop them, along with the carrots and turnips, into the beef broth. Simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove all vegetables and arrange them on the platter.

Prepare the Horseradish Sauce:

  • While the beef is simmering, put all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree for 20 seconds. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

To Serve:

  • Elegantly arrange all the vegetables and meat on a serving platter. Traditionally, the broth is served first with marrow toast sprinkled with parsley. Then, the meat and vegetables are passed around for everyone to help themselves. More broth is ladled over, and diners may customize their bowls as they like with horseradish sauce, tomato sauce, mustard, and cornichons.

Notes

Canoe-cut marrow bones are easy to find nowadays. I like to roast the roast the bones seasoned with salt and pepper for 15 minutes at 400ºF before serving.
Tip: The object here is to cook the meat and broth so ridiculously slow that the stock remains crystal clear. Boiling makes broth cloudy.
 
Keyword Beef, Pork, Stew
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Pot au Feu Recipes

Pot au Feu: A Classic Provençal Recipe
Traditionally, the stew is served in 2 services. Meat and vegetables first, then the broth and the bread.
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Pot au Feu for Cold Weather Days in Provence
This is a very traditional French main meal. Like a stew, pot-au-feu is easy to make, and you can vary the ingredients depending on what you have in the fridge. Traditionally, this dish is served in two courses. The marrow is spread on crusty bread and served with the broth, and then the meat and vegetables are served in the second serving.
Check out this recipe
Pot au Feu Provencal Recipes
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Chef François de Mélogue

François de Mélogue grew up in a very French household in Chicago. His earliest attempts at cookery began with the filleting of his sister’s goldfish at age two and a braised rabbit dish made with his pet rabbits by age seven. He eventually stopped cooking his pets and went to the highly esteemed New England Culinary Institute, where he graduated top of his class in 1985.

Chef François has over 30 years of cross-cultural culinary experience and brings an impressive culinary history and a unique Mediterranean cooking style. After graduating top of his class from the notable New England Culinary Institute, Chef François began his career in a number of highly acclaimed kitchens across the country, including Chef Louis Szathmary’s restaurant The Bakery in Chicago, Old Drovers Inn, a Relais and Chateaux property in New York and Joel Robuchon Gastronomie restaurant in Paris, before opening award-winning restaurant Pili Pili in his hometown of Chicago, rated in the Top Ten new restaurants in the World by Food and Wine magazine in 2003.

Chef François resides in St Albans, Vermont with his wife Lisa and ten-year-old son Beaumont, who has proclaimed himself the family saucier. Chef François' latest publication French Cooking for Beginners: 75+ Classic Recipes to Cook Like a Parisian takes you on a culinary journey well beyond the streets of Paris. Francois is a professional photographer specializing in food/product photography, real estate photography and shooting rural landscapes of Vermont and France. Explore his work on https://www.francoisdemelogue.com/.

Take a look at his website Simple French Cooking filled with delicious recipes and beautiful photos. Also follow Francois on Medium for more tempting dishes Pistou and Pastis.

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