Pot-au-feu is a slowly simmered meat and vegetable dish that appears on most home tables in France. Pot au Feu, which literally translates to ‘pot in the fire’, started its life in working-class homes as a way to make less expensive cuts of beef more tender and palatable. Think the original crockpot. The long slow cooking resulted in 2 dishes: a clear nourishing broth and a rich meal of beef and vegetables.
There are as many variations of pot au feu as there are cooks. I have eaten pot-au-feu prepared with lamb, chicken, lobster. and even a version that more resembled the ingredient list for a proper cassoulet. The two versions I have included are how my mother cooked it and a more restaurant version from chef Michel Guerard. Whichever recipe you follow, the constants remain the same: The broth is always served first with toasted slices of baguette crowned with morsels of fatty beef marrow, and the meat and vegetables are served second.
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