Pot-au-feu with clove-studded onion
Beef and vegetable pot-au-feu, a broth flavoured with an onion studded with Madagascar cloves and black pepper. Step by step.
- Prep 30 min
- Cooking 180 min
- Total 210 min
- Serves 6 servings
- Difficulty Medium
Pot-au-feu brings together a beef broth and vegetables, simmered together for a long time. Our version keeps the technique of studding an onion with cloves, which flavours the broth without the cloves needing to turn up on the plate.
Our family grows this clove in Vangaindrano, in south-eastern Madagascar. Studded into the whole onion, it infuses the broth throughout the three hours of cooking without breaking up inside it.
Preparation
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Peel the whole onion and stud it with the 3 cloves.
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In a large pot, cover the meat and marrow bone with cold water. Bring to the boil uncovered, then carefully skim off the foam that forms on the surface for 5 to 10 minutes.
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Add the clove-studded onion, garlic, bouquet garni and black peppercorns. Season lightly with salt, cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 2 hours.
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Peel the carrots, turnip and celery, and cut them into large pieces. Clean the leeks and cut them into chunks.
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Add the vegetables to the pot and continue cooking uncovered for a further 1 hour, until the meat comes apart easily with a fork.
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Adjust the seasoning, remove the bouquet garni and onion, then serve the meat and vegetables in the hot broth.
The little extra that changes everything
Stud the cloves through the onion's skin rather than into the flesh alone: they stay in place better during the three hours of cooking and come out in one go with the onion. To choose between whole and ground cloves, see whole or ground cloves: which to choose. Our products for this recipe: Madagascar cloves (25 g bag), Madagascar black pepper (50 g bag)
