This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Pot-au-feu, in its simple home-style form, is large pieces of vegetables and sausages simmered in water with stock cubes. What makes or breaks it is the heat. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down low, cover the pot and let it cook gently, and the vegetables become tender without falling apart while the broth stays clear and picks up their flavor.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- Sausages (wieners or frankfurters): 4 (about 160 g)
- Potatoes: 2
- Carrot: 1
- Onion: 1
- Cabbage: 1/4 head
- Water: 600 ml
- Consommé (stock) cubes: 2
- Bay leaf: 1
- Salt and pepper: a pinch each
- Whole-grain mustard: to taste
If you use granulated consommé, start with 2 tsp and add more at the end after tasting. You can leave out the bay leaf if you don’t have one.
Method
1. Cut the vegetables into large pieces
Peel the potatoes and cut them in half (into quarters if large). Soak them in water for about 5 minutes and drain. Peel the carrot, cut it in half lengthwise, then in half crosswise. Peel the onion and cut it into 4 wedges, leaving the root end on. Cut the cabbage in half lengthwise, leaving the core on.
2. Score the sausages
Make 2–3 shallow diagonal cuts on the surface of each sausage.
3. Bring the vegetables to a boil with water and stock
Arrange the potatoes, carrot, onion and cabbage in a pot, add the water, consommé cubes and bay leaf, and set over medium heat. When it comes to a boil, skim off the scum that rises.
4. Cover and simmer on low heat
Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20–30 minutes. Keep the heat at a level where the surface of the broth just trembles, never letting it boil hard. When a skewer slides easily into the potatoes and carrot, move on to the next step.
5. Add the sausages and simmer
Tuck the sausages into the gaps between the vegetables, cover again and simmer on low heat for 5–10 minutes.
6. Season and serve
Taste the broth and adjust with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf, transfer the vegetables and sausages to bowls without breaking them, pour over the broth and serve with whole-grain mustard if you like.
Tips for getting it right
Cut the vegetables large
Large pieces keep their shape through long simmering, and each vegetable keeps a clear flavor of its own. Small pieces cook faster, but the potatoes tend to break up and cloud the broth.
Keep the cabbage core and the onion root on
The cabbage core and the onion root hold the leaves and layers together, so they don’t come apart in the pot and still look neat in the bowl.
Turn it down to low once it boils
Boiling hard makes the vegetables tumble around the pot and break at the edges, and it clouds the broth. Covered on low heat, the vegetables cook through with little movement and their flavor seeps slowly into the broth.
Add the sausages later
If the sausages simmer for a long time from the start, too much of their flavor and salt goes into the broth and the sausages themselves taste washed out. Add them after the vegetables are tender and just heat them through. Scoring them helps keep the skins from splitting as they cook.
Add salt last, after tasting
Both the consommé and the sausages contain salt, so salting early can easily make the dish too salty. Taste once everything is cooked and add only what is needed.
If it didn’t turn out right
The potatoes broke up and the broth went cloudy
The heat was too high, or the potatoes were cut too small. Next time, turn the heat down to low as soon as it boils and cook the potatoes in halves. Using waxy potatoes, which hold their shape better, also helps.
The carrot is still hard
Carrot takes the longest of the vegetables to cook, so test it with a skewer before adding the sausages. If it is still firm, keep it covered on low heat and add 5 minutes at a time.
The cabbage fell apart
If you cut off the core before cooking, the leaves separate and spread out. Next time, keep the core on. If it has already come apart, layer the leaves in the bowl when serving and it will still be easy to eat.
It tastes bland, or too salty
If it is bland, add salt a little at a time, or dissolve a little granulated consommé into the broth. If it is too salty, add a little water and reheat gently on low heat.
Related products
You can find books and products related to this article on Amazon.
If you buy through the links above, this blog may earn a commission.
About the images
The images in this article are illustrations created with AI (ChatGPT), and you are welcome to use them. If you do, we would appreciate a link back to this article as the source.
Sources
Minna no Kyou no Ryouri, “Sausage and vegetable pot-au-feu” (Junko Takagi, in Japanese) https://www.kyounoryouri.jp/recipe/16612_ソーセージと野菜のポトフ.html
Minna no Kyou no Ryouri, “Anything-goes pot-au-feu” (Yoshiko Fujino, in Japanese) https://www.kyounoryouri.jp/recipe/7888_なんでもポトフ.html
macaroni, “Basic pot-au-feu” (in Japanese) https://macaro-ni.jp/48871
DELISH KITCHEN, “Sweet potato pot-au-feu” (in Japanese) https://delishkitchen.tv/recipes/372723172308419602
コメント