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Croute-Au-Pot
Place a two-pound piece shin of beef and a beef marrow bone in a large saucepan, pour in four quarts water, season with two teaspoons salt and half teaspoon pepper, set on fire and as soon as it comes to a boil skim fat from surface, then slowly boil one hour. Cut a half head clean, very small white cabbage in quarters, scald in boiling water five minutes to take away the strong odor, add to the soup with two medium carrots, two turnips and one onion; tie in a bunch two leeks, one branch parsley, one branch celery, one branch chervil, one sprig thyme, one bay leaf and one clove and add to the soup. Cover pan and slowly boil one hour longer. Remove all vegetables from pan, cut carrots and turnips in slices, the cabbage in half-inch squares, place in an earthen soup tureen with six slices toasted French roll, strain the broth through a damp doubled cheesecloth over the vegetables and bread and serve.
A French pot-au-feu broth served over toasted bread and its own vegetables. Nothing here is difficult, but the two things that decide whether it works are keeping the pot at a bare simmer and straining the broth properly.
- "Slowly boil" means a bare simmerA rolling boil emulsifies the fat and clouds the broth beyond rescue. Hold it at 180-190F, with the surface barely trembling, and skim as scum rises.
- Shin and marrow boneAsk for beef shin cut across the bone (often sold as osso buco style) plus a split marrow bone. A boneless chuck piece will give you meat but not the body that the collagen in shin provides.
- Two hours is shortTwo hours of simmering gives a light, clean broth in the classic style, but the shin will still be firm. If you want the meat tender enough to serve alongside, allow three to four hours and add the vegetables only in the final hour so they do not disintegrate.
- Scalding the cabbageFive minutes in boiling water, then drain and discard that water. This is not optional if you want a delicate broth; cabbage sulphur compounds otherwise dominate everything.
- ChervilRarely stocked fresh. Substitute a few extra parsley stems plus a little tarragon, or leave it out; the bouquet still works.
- "One clove" is the spiceA single clove, not a clove of garlic. The recipe ties it into the bundle with the leeks and herbs, which keeps it easy to retrieve; pushing it into the onion does the same job.
- The croûtes"French roll" here means a small crusty white roll of the sort these books call for; a baguette or similar crusty loaf will stand in. Cut half-inch slices and dry them in a low-to-moderate oven until crisp rather than browning them in a toaster, so they hold shape under the broth instead of turning to paste.
- StrainingDampen the doubled cheesecloth first or it will absorb broth and wick it over the counter. Ladle rather than pour, and leave the last cloudy inch in the pot.
- Yield and seasoningSix servings, as the six slices of bread indicate. Four quarts reduces considerably, so taste at the end before adding more salt; two teaspoons at the start is a starting point, not a finish.
Croûte-au-pot is the frugal French habit of serving the broth from a pot-au-feu over dried crusts of bread — the croûte of the name — so that nothing of either the pot or the stale loaf is wasted. It belongs to a family of soups built on the same logic across Europe, from Italian zuppa poured over toast to the bread-thickened broths of Spain and Portugal, and it appears in books like this one as a first course, with the boiled beef and vegetables served afterward or cold with mustard and pickles. Cookbooks of the early twentieth century aimed at American readers included it as a demonstration that a clear broth is the product of patience and low heat rather than expensive ingredients.