That's French for “best dinner ever.”
Image by Emily Fleischaker/Buzzfeed
A few weeks ago, the stew-and-soup news ticker I had installed here at Winter Stew HQ started clattering something fierce. An archaeologist at Harvard had found out that the tradition of stew and soup making was at least 25,000 years old—20,000 years older than previously thought. This is relevant to today's stew, which is about as primordial as it gets: pot-au-feu. It's meat and vegetables boiled in water, eaten with bread. The ur-stew. And its caveman simplicity is what makes it great.
As the name suggests (French for "pot on the fire"), you need only two tools to cook pot-au-feu: a big pot, and a heat source. You don't even really need a knife. That's kind of awesome.
Just about every culture has some form of simple boiled-meat-and-vegetables stew. But the French are particularly fond of deconstructing theirs and eating it buffet-style, with toasted bread and toppings like strong mustard, salt, and pickles. This makes it a great dish for a group of people to enjoy together. Plus, the French love bone marrow. I hope you do too.
This takes a little longer to cook than our past stews, because the fat and gelatin released by the meat and bones over the course of a couple hours on low heat is what tenderizes the meat and gives the broth all its flavor. But nearly all of that time is unattended, so queue up Les Miserables or the dawn-of-civilization scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey on repeat and take it slow.
Recipe adapted from Anthony Bourdain
INGREDIENTS
Meats: You can use a wide variety. Bigger, fattier cuts of beef like brisket and short ribs are traditional. But as long as it's something that can stand up to a long, slow cook, feel free to experiment. Also, try to include something smoked (more on this later). Here's what I used, which is enough to feed 6-8 people and more or less what's called for by Anthony Bourdain in his Les Halles cookbook.
1.5 to 2-pound cut of beef brisket, trimmed of its biggest chunks of fat (packaged corned beef briskets are OK too).
3-4 large beef short ribs, bone in (about 2.5 pounds)
1 beef shank
1 veal shank (just for variety's sake - either kind of shank will do)
4-6 sliced beef shin bone pieces, sliced horizontally (so they look like rings; they're often sold as soup or stew bones in the store. Ask the butcher if you don't see them; they're probably back there somewhere).
1 smoked ham hock, or a few links of smoked sausage
Vegetables:
2 large leeks, white parts only
4 medium potatoes (peeled or unpeeled), quartered
2 onions, peeled and quartered
6-8 whole cloves
Half a large head of green cabbage, quartered
4 carrots, peeled and cut in half
4 celery roots, cut in half
Bouquet garni:
10 sprigs fresh thyme
10 springs of fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
Garnishes:
Coarse Dijon mustard
Coarse kosher or sea salt
Cornichons or other pickles
Toasted bread
