What became of the pot au feu

Sometimes you are just too busy to take photos, or not in the mood. Or you take photos and they don't seem good enough to post, to be interesting. That's what happened Saturday, when I made the pot au feu, or French pot roast.

Yesterday I started over. After our lunch out on Sunday, which featured roast venison as the main course, it seemed like we needed something different for Monday's lunch. To the right is what I started with: left over beef, carrots, turnips, and broth.

I put the potatoes away for later.

The rest went into a new preparation: sauce bolognaise, or bolognese, with tomatoes and mushrooms, which I added. The meat was nearly falling apart, so I just shredded it with my fingers (making "pulled beef") and chopped it coarsely with a big knife. I diced the carrots and turnips up very finely.

Meanwhile, I "sweated"  some chopped onions and mushrooms in a big pot in olive oil. To that mixture, I added the chopped beef and diced vegetables. I poured in some pureed tomato pulp and a good amount of tomato paste, along with some beef broth, wine, and spices, to make a meat sauce to eat with pasta.

We served the sauce over penne pasta, with grated Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. You can make the sauce as spicy as you like, or as thick or thin as you want by adding more liquid (red wine is good). The shredded beef is very tender, and when you eat the sauce you can take comfort in the idea that you are also eating carrots and turnips — not to mention tomatoes.

The pot au feu was transformed and unrecognizable, but delicious this way. We have sauce left for another meal on another day. Maybe on pizza, or maybe in lasagne. Now I have to go get some Mozzarella, Cantal, and/or Ricotta cheese before we start again.