26 January 2016

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.

17 comments:

  1. Sometimes it's worth making extra just to have the leftovers! Sometimes they can be even better than the meal itself.

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    1. I agree. And a lot of French recipes for things like hachis parmentier call for left over rôti or pot au feu instead of ground beef (mince, you say, I think). The cooked beef is less fatty, for one thing. It would be good in chili con carne.

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  2. That looks warming and tasty....Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

    Have you tried raclette cheese for you pizzas...
    I've just started using it and it works better than Mozarella and Cantal...
    it is easier to use than Mozzie, too!

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    1. I think we tried that one time. We don't put mozzarella on pizzas any more, because it releases too much water when it melts. We like cantal. This time, I bought a cheese for tartiflette from Intermarché. We used some on top of our Mexican lasagne and we think it might be good for pizza too. It's not a Reblochon but a knock-off.

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  3. The pot-au-feu is right up my alley, my very favorite. The penne looks great too. What time should I stop by for dinner?

    Wondering how chm fared in stormzilla...I'll check yesterday's comments.

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    1. Oh, you missed dinner! We having beans today. How does that sound?

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    2. The way the two of you cook, I'm sure you could turn humble beans into tasty perfection. ;-)

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    3. And *anything* cooked by these two is sure to delight the senses!

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  4. I've never made this sort of meat sauce from leftovers and it seems to be quite a transformation of your leftovers. A delicious idea.

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    1. I think it's very French to transform leftovers this way.

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  5. I don't know, most people I know do leftovers this way .. or maybe I was just taught by a brilliant cook :)
    I often make sandwiches or pasta with leftovers .. my husband used to say he often liked the meal the Next day better than the first day :)

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    1. I'm glad to hear this. And I agree about the food often being better the second day.

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  6. That was a good-looking piece of meat you started with, Ken. Was it what we would call a chuck
    roast in the States?

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    1. I think it was the equivalent of what we would call a chuck roast, but it was only labeled as pot au feu on the supermarket packaging.

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  7. I have on occasion made completely different meals from leftovers, but I usually reheat it in the same form. I've become boring! Thanks for the ideas, they both look fabulous.

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  8. I often reuse chicken paprikas as filling for crepes. Make curried lamb from lamb leftovers if there are any....But somehow using tomatoes skips my mind.

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  9. I love how you never waste anything! I try to do the same!

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