Pot au Feu – Nicole Peyrafitte

Feierstengszalot this what they call this delicious salad in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. As a literal translation in English it means: Flintstone salad, or in French une salade de silex! I can assure you it tastes better than it sounds. But why does this delicious salad made out of left overs of pot roast bear this name? Certainly an investigation I will conduct during my next trip to Luxembourg. My husband, Pierre Joris a native of Luxembourg, doesn’t know either but he made it for lunch yesterday and it was truly delicious. A few nights ago I had made a Pot au Feu —pot roast— and he used the leftovers to compose his version of the Feierstengszalot. So yes, first you have to make a pot roast, which I highly recommend it in this season and you can find my recipe here.

Pierre’s Feierstengszalot

Cut the leftover of the pot roast meat into small pieces— (maybe the meat was tough and black in the old day and might have looked and tasted like flint-stones?
Add diced raw celery, diced boiled potatoes, a lot of finely chopped onions and lots of chopped parsley.
Dress with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette: 1 tbsp mustard, 1 tbsp wine vinegar, 3 tbsp oil of olive oil, 1 crushed garlic clove.
Garnish with slices of hard boiled egg.
In the French version they add left over of cooked carrots, turnips and diced cornichons. Capers, watercress, shallots, chives, dill & tarragon are in the original Luxembourgian recipe but we didn’t have any so Pierre made due with what was available. In cooking, unlike in baking or pastry, there is always for creativity & adaptation!

Originally Pot au Feu meant an earthenware or a metal cooking pot. Today, it is a common French dish and to me the ultimate winter comfort food. It is very easy to prepare and economical, low cost cuts can be used. It can be prepared in 15 minutes, then simmers all afternoon long filling the house with a marvelous aroma. Several cuts of meat can be used but preferably cartilaginous cuts such as oxtail and marrowbone (I got a beautiful beef shank marbled with cartilage). My mother always combines veal & beef cuts.
Equivalent dishes are: the New England boiled dinner, consisting of corned beef or a ham shoulder, & the Irish corn beef and cabbage.
There are many variations and they are all good, the only one rule is too cook it long enough. What I really like about the French version is the cleanness of the taste. Unless it is homemade, I don’t eat much corn beef, the prepared ones at the store are usually too salty, full of m.s.g and other preservatives. I have added Jerusalem Artichokes in this version, it is unusual and it was a test —the main reason being that I had some in the fridge but I didn’t have any potatoes at hand. No regrets! It added a subtle layer of flavor, I will do it again!
I was curious to price my Pot of Feu –which lasted for three meals. I did the shopping at the Park Slope Food Coop.

Ingredients:
1 (1.42lb) Grass fed Beef Shank bone $6.13
3 small organic carrots carrots $0.55
1 organic turnip $0.31
2 organic leeks $1.37
3 Jerusalem Artichokes $1.85
Total $10.23

already in my pantry:
3 ribs of Celery
1 Onion
3 cloves ( stick them onto the peeled onion)
4 peppers grains 1 teaspon of corse sea salt
Whole grain mustard (moutarde à l’ancienne)
Gherkins (cornichons)

Put the meat, the vegetables (except the potatoes &/or the Jerusalem artichoke) & the spices into the pot and cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil and let simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours. The meat as to be really tender. 1/2 hour before the end of the cooking add the potatoes and/or the Jerusalem artichokes.

Strain the broth onto a soup tureen and have the soup as a first course. If you wish you can add vermicelli or small pasta onto the broth.

Don’t forget to eat the marrow! blow out the marrow from the bone onto a piece of bread, sprinkle with sea salt. YUMMY!

Serve meat, veggies & condiments & Bon Appetit!

[ Pierre’s addendum: & don’t forget to tell your readers that when you have slurped your way through the soup & there is just a little left at the bottom of your plate, you add a good rasade — shot — of red wine, mix it with the soup, put down your spoon, raise the plate with two hands & slurp the mixture down with audible slurping satisfaction noises. It’s called “faire chabrot” which means etymologically “to drink like a goat.” It’s a total pleasure.]

Tag: Pot au Feu

Feierstengszalot or Flintstone Salad

Le Pot au Feu