The Pot-au-Feu

Common-sense cookery for English hous... · Kenney-Herbert, A. R. (Arthur Robert), 1840-1916 · 1905

Source: Common-sense cookery for English households : with twenty menus worked out in detail
Status: success · extracted 12 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (17)

For the stock

one pound and a half of beef, as fresh as possible, from the leg or shoulder ↝ Beef, ground, raw [Ground beef]
half a pound of bone, broken up as small as possible ↝ Pork, bones [Pork]
three and a half pints of cold water ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]
a quarter of an ounce of salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
a coffee-cupful of cold water ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]

Vegetables for the stock

Five ounces of onions ↝ Onions, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
five ounces of carrot ↝ Carrots, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
five ounces of turnip ↝ Turnips, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
five ounces of leeks ↝ Leeks [Onions]
one ounce of parsnip ↝ Parsnips, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
one ounce of celery ↝ Celery, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
One clove ↝ Garlic, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]

Bouquet garni

a small bunch of parsley ↝ Parsley, raw [Not included in a food category]
a sprig of thyme ↝ Thyme, fresh [Spices and Herbs]
one bay leaf ↝ Spices, bay leaf [Spices and Herbs]

For purée (optional)

Instructions (17)

Cut the meat into two-inch squares and put them into a stock-pot with three and a half pints of cold water and a quarter of an ounce of salt.
Place the bones at the bottom of the pot and the meat over them, ensuring the water completely covers the meat.
Gradually heat the pot by the side of the fire.
As scum forms, carefully remove it as it rises.
When nearly boiling, add a coffee-cupful of cold water to check ebullition and help the scum rise.
Repeat the process of adding cold water and skimming patiently, removing grease and scum, until the surface is clear.
Once the scum is removed and the surface is clear, allow the pot to boil.
Place the cleaned and cut vegetables (onions, carrot, turnip, leeks, parsnip, celery) into a net and add to the stock-pot.
Stick one clove into the onion.
Prepare a bouquet garni by washing a small bunch of parsley, folding it over a sprig of thyme and one bay leaf, and tying the bundle with twine. Add this to the stock-pot.
Once bubbling recommences after adding the vegetables, reduce the heat to simmering.
Watch the vegetables carefully and remove them from the net when cooked, to prevent them from spoiling the soup.
Remove the bouquet garni as well.
The removed vegetables can be used as a garnish for the soup, or for macédoine or salade cuite the next day.
To make potage à la bourgeoise, pass the cooked vegetables through a fine sieve, work the pulp into second boilings or common stock with liaison au roux.
Allow the pot-au-feu to simmer slowly for three to four hours, or until the meat is thoroughly done.
Strain the soup into a basin and let it cool so that any remaining fat can be skimmed off.

Original Text

THE POT-AU-FEU.
Take:—one pound and a half of beef, as fresh as possible, from the leg or shoulder, and half a pound of bone, broken up as small as possible. Cut the meat up into two-inch squares and put them into a stock-pot with three and a half pints of cold water and a quarter of an ounce of salt. The bones should be put at the bottom and the meat over them; the water should completely cover the meat. See that the fire is properly made up. Put the pot by the side of the fire and let it become gradually heated. As this takes place a scum will form upon the surface, which must be carefully removed as it rises. When nearly boiling, a coffee-cupful of cold water should be thrown into the pot to check ebullition and accelerate the rising of the scum. Repeat this process and skim patiently, removing grease and scum, till the surface is clear. The clearness of the soup will depend, remember, upon all the scum being taken off, and upon the water having been kept from boiling point until it is all removed.
This having been done, and boiling having been permitted, put into the stock-pot in a net the following vegetables, which should have been previously carefully cleaned and cut up, viz.:—
Five ounces of onions, five ounces of carrot, five ounces of turnip, five ounces of leeks, one ounce of parsnip, one ounce of celery. One clove may be stuck in the onion, and a bouquet garni of herbs should go in, composed in this manner:—Choose a small bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and one bay leaf; wash the parsley, and fold it over the thyme and bay leaf, and tie the little faggot thus formed with twine.
It will be found that by adding the vegetables the boiling of the broth will be thrown back; as soon however as the bubbling recommences, reduce the heat under the stock-pot to simmering; watch the vegetables carefully, and remove them when they are done by taking out the net. If you leave them in the stock-pot after they have been cooked, they will spoil the soup. Remove the bouquet also.
The vegetables thus removed should on no account be thrown away. If not required in part to be put in the soup as a garnish, they can be used the next day at luncheon as macédoine or salade cuite. As a matter of fact, they are more tasty than when boiled in water. They make a very good purée in conjunction with second boilings or common stock (see next chapter), the process being to pass the vegetables through a fine sieve, and work the pulp so obtained into the stock with liaison au roux to effect the blending thoroughly. A purée thus made is called potage à la bourgeoise.
When the pot-au-feu is, so to speak, thus completed, it must be left to simmer slowly from three to four hours, or until such time as the meat is thoroughly done. The soup should now be strained into a basin and left to get cool, so that any remaining fat may be effectually skimmed off.
The skimming and removal of the fat is an essential point

Notes

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