Appalachian elegance

There comes a time, as winter grows old, when you just want to throw everything left over in your pantry in a pot and let it work its own magic, while you go off in search of the first wild greens that might be popping up in some sheltered corner of your woods or fields.

You’re tired of casseroles and of fanciful fare. You’d scream if you had to spend another day in the kitchen, trying to come up with something original after months of using up your best recipes and feeding multiple family members who have flocked through the house at all hours with different diets to observe and allergies you never even heard of. You want something that suits the young, the old, the timid, the bold, and you don’t want to break the bank to put it on the table.

Enter pot-au-feu, or pot on the fire, the French ultra-light version of beef stew, the heavy version being boeuf bourguignon. Nothing could be easier or more satisfying than this home recipe staple, which starts with whatever hunk of beef (or venison) you can find, surrounded by whatever root vegetables you have in your larder (potatoes, onions, carrots, leeks, turnips, parsnips, celery, rutabagas), a bouquet garni (parsley, thyme and bay leaf tied together in a bundle), a palmful of salt, and enough water to cover.

Unlike gumbo (that other quintessential throw-almost-everything-into-the-pot dish), you don’t have to worry about layering your flavor for this concoction. And there is no roux to mess up and no chance of stringiness if you forget and combine okra and filé powder without knowing that you shouldn’t. Ideally, you would start with the hunk of meat submerged in water and skim off the impurities as they arise to the top before adding the other vegetables all at once, but if you don’t have time for this, you can always strain your broth at the end. Or enjoy its textured appearance.

Another wonderful thing about pot-au-feu is that it is generally served in two stages. First (after letting the totality simmer for a good three hours until the meat is ultra-tender and the vegetables have shared all their goody with the water that surrounds them), you ladle the broth into soup bowls and serve it hot and steaming to your guests, who are likely to be your family, to keep them happy while you carve up the hunk of meat.

If you have some good hearty crusty French-style bread at hand, this is the ideal accompaniment to the broth, as the bread can be used to sop out the last of the deliciousness from the bottom of the bowl, and to provide a textural crunch in contrast to the smoothness of the liquid. And if you have the good fortune to have thrown in a couple of marrow bones, you can scoop out the marrow and spread it on the bread for the ultimate buttery delight.

Meanwhile, you will slice the meat into hefty half-inch slabs, and fill each plate with a couple of these, surrounded by a selection of the vegetables, and topped with just a little of the broth to make sure all is moist. At the table, you will have a dish of large-grained salt with a little salt spoon for each person to sprinkle on top, to taste, and another dish with spicy Dijon mustard, which each guest will use with abandon to slather on the meat.

Step by step to a pot-au-feu

Ingredients:

• A healthy hunk of beef (or venison if you have some on hand)
• A few marrow bones if you find some fresh at the butcher
• A dozen or so smallish potatoes, depending on your number of guests
• One large onion
• Several carrots
• Parsnips (if you can find them)
• Turnips and/or rutabagas
• A few celery sticks
• A few lengths of well-cleaned leeks (if you have them)
• Water to cover
• 3 or 4 cloves
• A few bay leaves
• A few sprigs of parsley
• A few sprigs of thyme
• A tablespoon or more of salt, depending on type used (fine salt requires less, as it is more compact)
• Large-grained salt for service
• Dijon mustard for service

Preparation:

Rinse hunk of meat if necessary and cut off excess fat. (Leave some fat for flavor!) Put the meat into a large Dutch oven-style pot, cover with cold water, and bring slowly to a boil. (Beginning with cold water extracts the flavors of the ingredients more gently.) When the water begins to bubble, turn the heat down and skim off the impurities. Repeat a time or two.

Meanwhile, scrub all vegetables and wash leeks thoroughly. Stick several cloves into the ends of your peeled onion. Drop all vegetables in the pot alongside the meat, and cover with additional water if necessary. Add salt and bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, and bay, tied together with kitchen string), and bring back to a slow boil. Skim impurities again as necessary, and keep the bubbles small. When all impurities have been removed, cover, making sure the bubbles are still small, and leave for three or so hours, checking occasionally to make sure the liquid still covers all the other ingredients.

When ready to call your guests to the table, first serve the broth, accompanied by some crusty country bread, spread with marrow if you included such. Next, preferably on pre-heated plates, serve the meat, sliced into half-inch slabs, surrounded by the vegetables, and topped with a bit of broth. Add a sprig of thyme or rosemary if needed for color accent, and pass around the salt and mustard dishes. Alternatively, you can sprinkle a bit of salt on top of the ensemble, and just pass the mustard for your guests to serve to taste.

Follow, if you wish, with a green salad (just lettuce leaves) tossed in a simple vinaigrette, and to cap it off, a cheese platter. (Stay tuned for greater detail on this sequence!)

A Burgundy or a Beaujolais would complement this dish well, as would a California or a Carolina Pinot noir. Suit your own tastes!