Pot au Feu is essentially a beautiful, tender pot-roast that is served in a clear, beef broth studded with vegetables.
No one has recorded a better version of this ultimate southwestern French dish, nor is it likely anyone ever will. Paula [Wolfert] learned it in the dining room of Pierrette Lejanou, a local Toulouse woman known to make the best. This is a three-day project, made more pleasurable if you can collaborate with a friend. The biggest challenges lie in the shopping: in addition to Tarbais beans and duck confit, the dish contains six kinds of pork. It’s an ideal excuse to visit that new nose-to-tail butcher shop that just opened. The staff will be excited to hear you are tackling this and should have most items.
This recipe is unusual, as the fish fillets are first poached in white wine in the oven and then draped in a thick, creamy sauce and broiled. You’ll want to serve this dish with crusty bread to savor each bit of the sauce.
Never underestimate the pleasures of meringue. Simple to the point of plain, meringue delivers delight with every messy bite. As neat as you may be, it’s impossible to eat a meringue without producing a pile of shards and crumbs, and that’s part of the cookie’s charm.
Ingredients
Paleron is a cut of beef from the shoulder, called chicken steak or flatiron steak here in the United States. It’s a very beefy, hardy cut for braising, and it gives a nice rich broth for the sauce. In France, paleron de boeuf is a staple, the kind of dish someone’s grandmother would make in the winter when she needed to warm up the family. If you are cooking for a crowd, double this recipe (you’ll need a really big pot). There’s no shame in leftovers, since it reheats so well. If you are short on time, you can skip the marinating.
Aioli is a delicious staple of Mediterranean cuisine and personifies the flavors and cooking style of the South of France. It has a heady taste of garlic that makes it a delicious dip or sauce for crunchy crudités or poached seafood.