The Pot-au-Feu

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6-quart (5.7-liter) heavy stockpot, preferably tall and narrow
• •Fine-mesh skimmer and fine-mesh sieve
• •4-quart (3.8-liter) saucepan for blanching the cabbage
• •Kitchen twine and food-safe cheesecloth
• •Large warmed serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the garniture

   Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat and set the onion halves in it, cut sides down. Let them char until nearly black in patches, then press one clove into each half. This dark face gives the broth its warm amber color without browning the meat. Tie the chuck firmly, clean the leeks between every layer, and keep the garniture, the vegetable accompaniment, in generous pieces so it survives the long pot.

2. 2

   Begin the cold extraction

   Set the chuck and shank in a narrow six-quart stockpot and pour in the 12 cups of cold water. Add half the fine salt. Bring the pot up very slowly over medium-low heat, allowing thirty to forty minutes before the first gentle movement appears at the surface. Starting cold draws gelatin and flavor from the meat; browning would make a fine stew, but it would not make this clear broth.

3. 3

   Skim and simmer

   As gray foam gathers, skim it gently from the surface without stirring the pot. Continue until the foam becomes sparse, about twenty minutes, then add the charred onion, bouquet garni, peppercorns, celery, and remaining fine salt. Partly cover and hold the broth at frémissement for 2 hours. If it reaches a hard boil, lower the heat immediately and pour the reserved ice-cold water around the edge; ça se rattrape. Wait for the impurities to rise, skim again, and strain through damp cheesecloth later if needed.

   Move the skimmer across the surface, not down through the broth. Stirring sends the foam back into suspension and makes clarity far harder to recover.
4. 4

   Blanch the cabbage

   While the beef simmers, bring the separate 8 cups of water to a boil. Lower in the cabbage wedges and blanch them for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse briefly under cool water. Blanching removes the cabbage's strongest sulfurous edge and keeps it from clouding the broth. This small extra pot is part of the dish, not kitchen theater.

5. 5

   Add chicken and roots

   After the beef has simmered for 2 hours, lower in the chicken leg quarters, carrots, and turnips. Let the pot return gradually to frémissement, skimming once more if the chicken releases any foam, and cook for 25 minutes. Today's young chicken enters later than the mature fowl of the classical kitchen because it needs tenderness preserved, not toughness conquered.

6. 6

   Finish the vegetables

   Add the tied leeks and blanched cabbage wedges, keeping them near the surface where they can be lifted without breaking. Continue cooking for 25 to 30 minutes. The chicken should yield at the joint and register at least 165°F (74°C) in its thickest part; the beef should accept a thin knife with little resistance. If the chicken is ready before the beef, lift it out with the vegetables, moisten everything with a ladle of broth, and continue the beef alone. A stubborn cut sets the clock, not the other way around.

7. 7

   Poach the marrow

   During the final 20 minutes, wrap each marrow bone loosely in damp cheesecloth and lower it into the broth. Keep the pot quiet. The marrow is ready when it looks translucent and gives beneath a small knife but has not melted out of the bone. If cheesecloth is unavailable, stand the bones upright in a small saucepan, cover them with strained broth, and poach at the same gentle tremble for about 15 minutes.

8. 8

   Strain and balance

   Lift the marrow bones, chicken, beef, and serving vegetables onto a warm platter. Keep them covered with a little hot broth. Discard the onion, celery, bouquet garni, and peppercorns, then strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan without pressing on the solids. Spoon away excess surface fat, leaving a few golden beads for flavor. If the broth tastes weak, reduce it alone for 10 to 15 minutes; if it has grown too concentrated or salty, loosen it a little at a time with hot water. A full consommé clarification was service scaffolding for a brigade. Careful skimming and straining give the home table everything this dish intends.

9. 9

   Serve in two courses

   Taste the broth for salt and serve it first in warm bowls, with one dry baguette toast per person. For the second course, slice the chuck across the grain, lift the shank meat from its bone, and divide each chicken leg quarter at the joint. Arrange the meats with the carrots, turnips, leeks, cabbage, and marrow bones on the warm platter. Give each diner another toast for the marrow, and pass Dijon mustard, cornichons, and coarse salt. Never apologize at your own table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use two kinds of beef. Chuck supplies broad beef flavor and clean slices; shank supplies the gelatin that gives the broth body. Tender steak is wasted here, while a modest working cut becomes splendid under patient heat.
• •A tall, fairly narrow pot keeps the measured water around the meat and limits evaporation. If the ingredients swim in an enormous casserole, the broth will taste thin no matter how long you wait.
• •Potatoes are common beside many family pot-au-feu variations, but the Petite Marmite pattern uses carrots, turnips, leeks, and cabbage. Potatoes cooked in this pot shed starch and dull the broth, so leave them for another version.
• •Serve a light, bright red with enough acidity for the marrow and mustard, such as Beaujolais-Villages or a modest red Burgundy. A heavy, tannic bottle makes the clear broth seem smaller than it is.

Advance Preparation

• •For the clearest broth, cook through the beef simmer a day ahead. Cool the beef in enough strained broth to cover it, chill the remaining broth separately, and lift away the firm fat before returning both to a gentle simmer and adding the chicken and vegetables.
• •The complete dish can also be made a day ahead. Chill the meats, vegetables, and strained broth separately so the vegetables do not collapse, then reheat the broth first and warm the solids gently in it just before serving.
• •Cool any leftover broth promptly in shallow containers and refrigerate it within 2 hours. The broth and meat keep for up to 3 days; freeze extra broth for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 1150g)