Pot-Au-Feu Recipe from Parc Chef Jordan Hoffman

‘Ridiculously delicious’ dish a French take on a classic pot roast
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Photograph by Dan Morgner/Vaughn Images

“Growing up in Michigan, my family often enjoyed Sunday pot roasts, especially during the long winter and spring,” says executive chef Jordan Hoffman of Parc, a restaurant in Detroit’s Campus Martius Park. “While training in France, I was introduced to pot-au-feu, and it reminded me of those lazy days at home. I don’t have many lazy days now, but when I do, this is one of my favorite dishes to make; it’s not too much work and results in a ridiculously delicious dish.” Hoffman makes the dish even more special by using local meats and vegetables. He uses chuck roast from Sugarbush Farms in Allen and also adds smoked kielbasa from Srodek’s in Hamtramck.


Ingredients

2-3 pounds beef roast (chuck)
Salt and pepper
4 stalks of celery
2 large carrots
2 medium onions
2 shallots
½ head red cabbage
2 large leeks
2 tablespoons quality cooking oil
1 pound slab bacon, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 pound smoked Polish sausage, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
8 cloves of garlic
2 cups white wine
10 cups chicken or beef stock
4 beef marrow bones, cut in 2-inch sections
1 sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves
8 peppercorns
6 cloves
2 cups pee wee potatoes
Chopped parsley
Fresh nutmeg


Directions

Trim and tie the beef, season with salt and pepper liberally at least one hour before cooking (up to 24 hours). Cut enough celery, onions, and carrots for 2 cups of small diced mirepoix. Cut remaining celery, onions, and carrots, plus the other vegetables, into larger chunks. Heat a heavy pot or Dutch oven on medium high. Sear roast on all sides with oil; remove. Sear bacon and sausage; remove. Drain oil from pot, but reserve fond (the seared bits left on the bottom). Add butter, and slowly sear large vegetable pieces until brown. Refrigerate. Add mirepoix to pot and sweat diced vegetables, along with garlic cloves, until caramelized. Deglaze with wine and reduce by half. Add stock and bring to a simmer. Tie the thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cloves in a cheesecloth and add to the broth. Return meats to pot along with marrow bones and simmer for around 3 hours at very low heat. Once roast is tender return large pieces of vegetables and potatoes to pot and simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender. Transfer meat and vegetables to a platter and reduce broth by a third. Adjust seasoning. Serve with ladles of reduced broth, sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated fresh nutmeg.