Pot-au-feu (classic French beef stew)

Pot-au-feu (which translates into 'pot on the fire') has got to be one of the most famous and universally appreciated dishes of French cuisine. You will never find a French person who has not had this dish.
Click here for a little history and knowledge about the dish.

This wonderfully flavored, slow-cooking dish is a staple during the cold months of fall and winter; and it costs very little! It uses very cheap cuts of meat (typically chuck, oxtail, flat ribs and marrowbones) and seasonal vegetables (turnips, leeks, carrots and celery). It is served piping hot, alongside boiled potatoes and a ladleful of broth. The buttery marrow is spread on grilled sourdough and sprinkled with coarse salt... oooh, so good!

The great thing about this dish is that it makes tons of leftovers! Usually eaten cold, with Dijon mustard and cornichons (pickled gherkins), the meat can also be used for a sheperd's pie or in a grilled cheese sandwich with grated gruyere. In my family, the leftover broth was always reheated and used to cook tapioca beads (Perles du Japon) to eat as a light supper, with a slice of grilled sourdough.

It is really a great recipe to have in your repertoire! Try it, you won't be disappointed :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: this is my own recipe and it involves a lot of steps, but this is I think really worth the effort and time as the result is divine. You can also go ahead and put everything in one pot and cook for 3 hours, it'll still taste amazing and it's a lot less work- just not as pretty ;)

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people, 2 people with leftovers, or 1 person with TONS of leftovers):
- 2 onions, peeled and whole (one will be used to brown over an open flame)
- 3 leeks (or as many as you like, I just had 3 available), reserve the green parts of 1 leek
- 9 carrots
- 5 branches of celeri
- 5 cloves of garlic, still in their skin
- 4 smallish medium turnips, or 1 large yellow turnip (that's what I used, because can you believe that my supermarket was OUT of turnips??? In the middle of October?!)
- 1 bouquet garni (click here for recipe)
- coarse salt
- 20 black peppercorns
- 4 cloves, whole
- 2 lbs beef chuck, whole piece
- 1 lb oxtail
- 1lb lean flat ribs
- 6 marrowbones
- not pictured: 3 large Yukon gold potatoes
- flat leaf parsley for decoration


RECIPE (takes about 4 hours start to finish):
- Put coarse salt on the marrowbones and reserve in the fridge until ready to use

- Take one of the onions, cut it in half, wrap it in aluminium foil and brown it over an open flame

- Cut the vegetables the size you will want to have them in your plate, keeping in mind that if you cut them too small, they will turn to mush in the final presentation. For security, tie the leeks with cooking twine so that they retain their shape while cooking

- Stud the remaining onion with the 4 cloves and crush the peppercorns with a pestle

- In a large stockpot, brown 1 carrot, 1 celery branch and the grilled onion in a little olive oil; this will be the base for the broth. Reserve until ready to use and drain any remaining oil from the stockpot.

- Tie the chuck with cooking twine and put the meat into the stockpot, along with the browned veggies, garlic, pepper, bouquet garni, studded onion and 14 cups of cold water

- bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours on low heat. Skim the brown foam that forms on top of the water regularly. Make sure that the water does not evaporate completely, and cover if necessary.

- after 2 1/2 hours, the meat should be really tender and the broth reduced and concentrated with flavor. Reserve the meat on the side, toss the by-now-overcooked veggies and filter the broth into a pot, through a thin dish towel draped over a sieve. Be sure to squeeze out all the deliciousness into your broth, that's where all the flavor units are!

- Put the meat back in the stockpot and pour the clear broth over it.  Add the marrow bones and the quartered potatoes. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes

- Add the remaining vegetables (turnips, carrots, celery and leeks), and a little warm water if there is not enough to almost cover the veggies. Cover and cook for another 20 minutes over medium heat.

- Serve family-style, in a large dish

- Or in a single plate as follows: a little bit of each cut of meat, surounded by vegetables and a ladleful of broth. On the side, a slice of grilled sourdough slathered in buttery marrow and sprinkled with coarse salt.

- Bon appetit!!!

Chili con carne

Ole!

I've been in the mood for Chili con carne for about 3 years. It was about time I did something about it...
I was browsing the Food Network website a couple of weeks ago, in preparation for my bimonthly-ish culinary gathering of sorts, when a recipe caught my attention.

That was it! I was sold! This was going to happen... "This" was Guy Fieri's Dragon Breath Chili.

Seeing as my stomach lining is nowhere as heat-tolerant as Guy's, I substituted most of the hot peppers for bell peppers, adapted the spice-mix to whatever I had lying around in my pantry and omitted most of the hot sauce, chili powder and cayenne, preferring the slightly much safer option of post-cooking heat-customization :D

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons granulated onion
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander (I used a pestle and mortar, but if you have powder or a spice grinder it is better; those half-ground seeds can get really annoying in the final texture)
1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (not in the original recipe)
1 tablespoon crushed dried oregano (not in the original recipe)
3 teaspoons kosher salt
3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons bacon grease

2 red bell peppers, diced

• 2 green bell peppers, diced
• 
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, diced very finely
• 
• 2 yellow onions, diced
•  
• 1 head garlic, grated 
• 
• 2 pounds boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 3 pounds ground beef
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 
• 1 28oz can of peeled tomatoes (I used Italian style because I had it in the pantry already, but plain is fine)
• 1 cup tomato paste
• water (about 1-2 cups, just as needed to avoid getting too dry during cooking on day 1)
• 12 ounces lager beer (used it to reheat on day 2)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 14oz cans pinto beans, with juice
• 2 14oz cans kidney beans, with juice
• 1 14oz can black beans, with juice
• 
• 
  
• For garnish: 
• Saltine crackers and corn chips
• 
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• 
• 1 small jalapeno, finely diced
• 
• Lime wedges
• 
• Sour cream
• 
• Cilantro
• 
• Liberal amounts of shredded Cheddar cheese

RECIPE:

In large stock pot over high heat, melt butter and bacon grease.
 
Add the diced bell peppers, jalapeno, and onions and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute a minute longer. Reserve in a bowl.

Add chuck meat to the pot and brown.
 
Add ground beef and sausage to brown and stir gently, trying not to break up the ground beef too much, when the meat is almost cooked all the way through, add the reserved sauteed vegetables back into the pot.
 
Add in the spice mix and cook for 1 minute. Add in tomato sauce and paste and stir for 2 minutes.
 
Stir in the chicken stock and beans. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.
 
If it is not wet enough, add some water. Let rest overnight in the fridge. 
Note: If you are preparing this chili on the day you are going to eat it, add the beer together with the chicken stock and forgo the water.

To reheat on day 2, stir in the can of beer and extra water if the chili has become too thick. Reheat on low heat for 30 minutes, or until the chili is warm evenly.

Serve with saltine crackers, a good dollop of sour cream and sprinkle liberal amounts of shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro and spring onions :)


 Enjoy!!