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Pot-au-feu (French beef and vegetable pot)

85

Beef shin simmered for hours with carrots, turnips, leeks, celery and potatoes in a clear, deeply savoury broth. Serve the broth first, then the meat and vegetables with strong Dijon mustard and coarse salt.

Time
225 min (25 prep + 200 cook)
Servings
4
Per serving
586 kcal
Protein
65 g

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 lb beef shank, boneless beef shin (gîte), in 4 large pieces, tied with string; weighed raw (about 700 g once simmered)
  • 8 1/2 cups water, cold
  • 2 tsp salt, coarse
  • 10 peppercorns black peppers
  • 1 large onion, halved
  • 2 whole cloves, pushed into the onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled

Bouquet garni

  • 4 large carrots, halved lengthways
  • 3 medium turnip, peeled and halved
  • 3 medium leek, white and pale green parts, tied in a bundle
  • 2 stalks celery, in large pieces
  • 1 lb 2 oz gold potatoes, waxy potatoes, peeled and halved

To serve

Steps

  1. Put the beef in a large, deep pot with the cold water, salt and peppercorns. Bring slowly to a simmer, skimming off the grey foam as it rises for the first 10 minutes.
  2. Add the onion halves with the cloves, the garlic and the bay, thyme and parsley tied together. Partly cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours. The surface should barely tremble; a hard boil clouds the broth and toughens the meat.
  3. Add the carrots, turnips, leeks and celery and simmer for 30 minutes more.
  4. Add the potatoes and simmer for 25–30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the beef pulls apart under a fork. Lift out the herb bundle. Skim the fat from the surface and taste the broth for salt.
  5. Ladle the broth into bowls and serve it first. Then slice the beef across the grain and bring it to the table with the vegetables, the mustard and a little coarse salt. Beef and vegetables keep 4 days in their broth and reheat gently; the meat and broth freeze for 3 months without the potatoes.

Good to know

Can I use chuck instead?

Yes, chuck (paleron) gives softer, richer meat, at about 72 instead of 85 if you use it all through. Many cooks use a mix of chuck and shin.

What about marrow bones?

They are traditional and very good on toast. Add them for the last 15 minutes, wrapped in cheesecloth so the marrow stays inside. They are not counted in this recipe.

Per

Calories
54
Protein
(47%)
6 g
Fat
(20%)
1 g
Carbohydrates
(33%)
5 g
of which sugar
1 g
Fiber
1 g
Sodium
144 mg

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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How

As written, 2343 kcal goes into the pot and 4524 g of ingredients comes out as about 4310 g of food: 54 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.