French Provincial Cooking - Elizabeth David [92]
In addition to the main piece of meat the pot-au-feu is improved by a piece of knuckle of veal, both meat and bone, to give body and a gelatinous quality; a beef marrow bone to provide marrow to spread on the baked bread which is served with the broth; the giblets of one or two fowls for flavour; and a piece of ox liver to promote clarity in the broth. Some families like to enrich their pot-au-feu with an ox-tail, which can be used later for another meal.
The Vegetables for the Pot-au-feu
Onions, leeks, carrots, a very small proportion of turnip, celery and parsnip, plus grilled tomatoes and, when they are available, a few pea-pods dried in the oven to give colour. The usual bouquet. Cabbage in the pot-au-feu is frequently encountered in France, but in my opinion utterly wrecks it. If cabbage is to be served with the meat, then extract some of the broth when the time comes and cook the cabbage in it separately.
The Saucepan for the Pot-au-feu
The pot, or marmite, is usually a tall straight-sided or slightly bulbous stock-pot made of earthenware, copper, enamelled iron, or heavy aluminium. Having had occasion to use all four, as well as an English ‘round pot’ or stock-pot made of cast iron lined with vitreous enamel, I cannot say that any one produces a better pot-au feu than the other, although the enamelled ones are the easiest to clean. Many English households do not possess even one pot of the requisite capacity (ideally, two gallons) so it does not seem relevant to lay down rules as to which it should be. French cooks disagree fiercely on the subject, conservative housewives swearing by the efficacy of their earthenware marmites, and professional cooks advocating copper (so long as the tin lining is in mint condition) and condemning earthenware on the grounds that eventually it acquires an ineradicable smell of stale fat which communicates itself to the broth cooked in it. (See the drawings of stock-pots on pages 64 and 153.)
Quantities
4 lb. of forequarter flank of beef or of one of the other cuts mentioned above, or alternatively 2 lb. of one of these and 2 lb. of shin, or even of or cheek, which is a bargain as prices go nowadays, and can be turned into delicious salad. A piece of knuckle of veal weighing about 2 lb. including bone. Optionally, a beef marrow bone, sawn into short lengths, chicken giblets, and 6 oz. of ox liver in one piece; and possibly an ox-tail cut into the usual lengths.
4 large leeks, 4 large carrots, 2 large onions, a very small turnip, a little piece of parsnip, 1 stalk of celery with its leaves, 2 tomatoes, 4 to 6 dried pea-pods if available, a bouquet consisting of 2 bayleaves, 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley and thyme, 1 tablespoon of coarse salt. The proportion of water is 2 pints per pound of meat, so for this quantity allow 8 pints. Some cooks allow extra for the bones, but the result is rather too thin a broth.
Preparation of the Ingredients
Tie the meat into a good shape. Wrap the pieces of marrow bone tightly in a muslin and tie with string so that the marrow cannot fall out. If ox-tail is being used, steep it in cold water for a couple of hours to let the blood soak out. Trim and wash the leeks and tie them in a bundle, with the stick of celery. Scrub the carrots. Peel the turnip and parsnip. Cut the tomatoes in halves and grill them. Wash the onions, but do not peel them unless they look gritty, because the skins help to colour the broth. The traditional clove stuck in the onions does not seem to me to be necessary. Prepare the bouquet and tie up the dried pea-pods with it.
The cooking
Put the beef and veal, and the giblets if they are being used, into the pot. Pour over the water. Bring extremely slowly to simmering point; when the scum starts rising skim it off. Presently it will get much thicker, and will go on rising for about 15 minutes while the water simmers