Winter Warming Pot Au Feu

Well, we promised you a delicious, hearty winter-warmer, so that’s exactly what you’re getting this week – it’s Pot au Feu! This classic French dish is a staple during the winter months and it’s got everything you might want on a cold January night after work. Literally translated as "pot on the fire", (doesn’t get much cosier than that, eh?!) this dish uses mostly winter vegetables and the best cuts of beef for stewing. It is one of Carine’s favourite classic slow-cooked stews - earthy; meaty and full of vegetables, served in a clear broth which is – and here we quote – “scrumptiously delicious”.

Sounds pretty good, huh? Let’s get started! This recipe serves 6 people, and can be a real showstopper, or you can simply keep it all for yourself and have it several days in a row!

Ingredients

• 1.5kg Beef (choose the best cuts for stewing – we recommend oxtail, cheeks, brisket or additional lean beef)
• Beef bones for deeper flavour (optional)
• 3 large carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 potatoes
• 2 turnips
• 2 medium leeks
• 1 onion
• 5 cloves
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Bouquet Garni (2 bay leaves, 5 fresh sprigs of thyme, parsley – traditionally tied together with cooking string, but this isn’t strictly necessary!)
• 1 beef or vegetable stock cube (optional)
• 10 black peppercorns
• Coarse sea salt (to taste)

Method

1) Tie your meat with cooking string to help it keep its shape while it cooks. If you can’t find cooking string, cut the meat into big chunks instead.

2) Peel the carrots, wash your leeks and celery, then cut all into large chunks.

3) Peel your onion and stud it with the cloves.

4) Place your meat, stock, and bones if you have them in a large pot and add 5 litres of cold water.

5) Bring to the boil and skim the broth regularly, removing the foam.

6) Once the mixture no longer forms a foam on the top, turn down the heat and add the rest of the ingredients.

7) Bring the mix back to the boil, cover it then let it simmer over a very low heat for a minimum of 4 hours (if you have a slow-cooker, you can use this, turning the setting to “Low”).

8) To serve, remove the meat and vegetables from the broth and place them on a plate, then ladle over a little broth. Carine serves her pot au feu with Dijon mustard or Dijon Mayonnaise, but we’ll leave your condiment choices up to you.

Bon appetite! We hope this warms your cockles. If you do have a go making this at home, get in touch on Twitter and let us know – we’d love to hear how you got on! 

Fantastic Winter Vegetables and Where to Find Them

In the UK, we are incredibly lucky to have delicious local produce all year round, even in the depths of winter. And as part of her healthy, sustainable 2016, this week Carine will be sharing some of her favourite winter veg and how you can get hold of them.

Carine’s favourite winter vegetables:

Beetroot, parsnip, butternut squash, all sorts of winter cabbage.

Where you can find them:

Carine grows most of hers in her allotment. Otherwise she sources them from Farmer’s markets in Brixton or Clapham Common- “they have everything I need and I can be sure it is all locally sourced.” If you can’t grow your own - she recommends going to your own local farmers’ market to find what’s seasonal. “These brave growers need the support of their local community to survive”

Tips on how to grow or forage for them yourself:

According to Carine, it has never been easier to grow your own veg. Even without proper outdoor space, great winter vegetables like carrots, beetroot, squash, and salad can be grown in pots - you don’t need large plots of land. This year, Carine will be building a vertical garden using recycled wooden pallets. These are easy to collect - you can even find them on the street! And it takes very little to upcycle them into a fantastic trailing garden space. Keep an eye on the blog for Carine’s blogpost in March on how she built her own vertical garden.

For an alternative to gardening, we suggest you give foraging a go. One of Carine’s greatest passions, she is always looking for edible treasures on streets, commons, and in fields. Foraged produce can even be more nutritious than its farmed cousin. Good things to look for at the moment are green leaves, mushrooms, and some fruits – but make sure you know what you’re looking for before you eat anything! A great book for beginner foragers is Darina Allen’s 'Forgotten Skills of Cooking.'

Carine loves hearty, earthy dishes like slow-cooked stew, which winter vegetables are made for. If you are a fan of warming winter recipes too, keep an eye out for next week’s post where we will be sharing one of our favourite recipes!