This is a classic French stew that is made in many different ways, but the end result of all of them are a slow braised beef and vegetable stew, that is richly flavored, and is broth based. Literally translated the meaning is "Pot on Fire" because you cook the soup for a long time, traditionally over open flame. Generally there are root vegetables, frequently off cuts of meat that take time to cook, and some sort of cut that has tons of gelatin which you pull from the bone as it slow cooks. There is also the classic bouquet garni, herbs wrapped in cheesecloth or other method to hold them together while cooking, and a fair amount of salt and pepper as well as cloves.
For my version of this classic, I used three different cuts; short ribs, shanks, and top round, two of which had bones that contain gelatin, and the third was there to give more meat to the dish. I marinated the meat overnight, then put a hard sear on it. An additional step was to char the onions that I had attached bay leaves and cloves to to get that burnt underlying flavor. From that point I started braising the meat and blanched the vegetables off in that broth. When you do that you control the texture of the vegetables, and you add the broth flavor to the vegetables, while adding the vegetable flavor to the broth and meat.
Once the vegetables were blanched and the meat was cooked, I strained everything out and started anew with garlic and leeks, then built the soup from there.
To finish this soup I made a marrow butter from the roasted bones, and grilled some french bread. I put a healthy..... or maybe not healthy but reasonable slab of my compound butter on the bread and garnished it with some chives.
Ingredients
Dry Rub
Beef Short Ribs* 1-2 lbs
Veal Shanks, Crosscut* 1-2 lbs
Top Round* 1-2 lbs
Mustard Powder 1 T
Avenue Spice 2 T
Garlic Oil 1 T
Meat Braise
Onions, halved 2 ea
Bay leaves 8 ea
Cloves 8 ea
Chicken Stock 2 qts
Soup
Leeks, cleaned and chopped 2 ea
Turnips, peeled and diced 2 ea
Parsnip, peeled and diced 3-4 ea
Carrots, peeled and diced 4 ea
Celery, diced 4 ea
Potatoes, small red bliss, halved 12 ea
Kale, chopped 1 bunch
Garlic cloves 8 ea
Chicken Stock 2 qt
Water 2 qt
Bouquet Garnis 1 ea
Cracked Black Pepper 2 T
Salt to taste
Avenue Spice 1 T
White Wine Vinegar 1/8 cup
Cinnamon 1 tsp
Nutmeg 1 tsp
Mustard Powder 2 tsp
*The idea is to have around 4 lbs of beef with a mix of bones and meat to add the collagen and flavor to the broth. You can alternate cuts, just remember it's cooking for a long time, so you don't want an expensive cut going to waste.
Garnish
Grilled Baguette with Marrow Butter, Parsley
Method of Procedure
Mix all of the spices in the dry rub and marinate your beef overnight.
The next day sear your beef making sure to get a decent color on all sides*.
While the beef is searing use your cloves to attach the bay leaves to your onions halves. Once attached put a hard sear on the flat side of the onion**.
Heat your soup pot and add your charred onions, seared beef, and two quarts of stock.
Add your bouquet garni and bring it to a simmer, then cook for two hours.
Strain your soup, discarding the bouquet but reserving the broth and meat separately.
Let the meat cool and pull it off the bone, chopping it into smaller pieces or pulling it to chunks.
Clean your soup pot and return it to heat.
Saute your leeks and whole garlic cloves on high heat until softened.
Add your stock, including the liquid from braising, season to taste, and bring to a boil.
Dice all of your vegetables keeping your potatoes apart.
Blanch your potatoes until tender by placing a colander in the boiling liquid and then shock them by removing the colander and running under cold water or immersing in ice water.
Blanch the remaining vegetables in batches ensuring they cook evenly.
Once you are done with the vegetables return the soup to a simmer and add your kale and simmer until tender, about 1 hour.
Add your cooked vegetables and season to taste.
To serve remove a portion of your soup to a smaller sauce pot and bring to a boil.
Bring to a boil and season to taste. Garnish with your grilled baguette, marrow butter, and parsley leaves.
*I used a cast iron for the beef and the onions to make sure I got that charred flavor, you can use anything to mimic it, but I would suggest using cast iron because it works very well.
**This step is necessary to develop to rich charred flavor. This becomes an underlying flavor in the end soup, so the harder the char the better.
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