Pot-au-feu
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Place the piece of beef in a pot and cover it with water.
Add the coarse sea salt.
Simmer
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer gently.
Skim off any scum that forms on the surface.
Continue to simmer until the meat is tender and the flavors have infused into the broth.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender and flavorful as it simmers slowly.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the broth and the meat as the liquid slowly absorbs it during simmering.
The step that matters
Simmer gently instead of boiling. A hard boil makes the proteins in the meat seize and toughen and makes the broth cloudy. A gentle simmer lets the meat become tender and the broth stay clear.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More pot-au-feu recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.