Pot-au-feu leftovers

Being a perverse sort, I'm posting about what to do with the leftovers for pot-au-feu before I post about the pot-au-feu itself.  I'm only doing this out of laziness.  I reckon it will take as long to write-up the pot-au-feu as it did to cook it, this is quicker.  I am pleased to say that I'm not doing this because I have a ton of leftovers left over.  Most of what I made for lunch on second day Rosh Hashanah got eaten up.

According to Elizabeth David, pot-au-feu is two dishes in one.  First you have the boulli, the meat, second you have the bouillon, the stock.  You can use some of the bouillon to baste the boulli as you serve it, but basically the two are quite separate entities.  She suggests you serve the boulli to your guests hot - as I did.  She then notes that the bouillon can be used as the base for a multitude of recipes.  I followed Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe and got a third meal out of it.  The upshot is below.

Given the the length of ingredients for the p-a-f itself, the technique for the leftovers couldn't be simpler.  You shred by hand any of the meat you have left over.  Dice an onion and garlic and quickly fry in oil.  Add the meat until you get it nice and crisp and serve.  That's it, or so Hugh says.

I added a of salt.  I also made a bit of a rough and ready sauce for the fried meat.  I chopped some flat leaf parsley and mixed it with a healthy swig of wine vinegar (I used white because I'd run out of red), a swig of good olive oil, some salt and a pinch of dried chilli flakes.  I preferred the meat with the sauce, it cut through the rich meat beautifully.  However, I am quite addicted to the cold meat without any accoutrements.  Having been cooked for so long in its gelatinous stock, it is soft, shreds at the touch of a fork and is full of flavour.

As for the bouillon, I have yet to find a use for it.  Although, the fat-cap (yes, that's what the photo is) is giving me thoughts of roast potatoes.  When I crack through that, I see soups and sauces in my future.

Comments

[Jeanne]

Mmmmm, sounds fab. And when I see a cap of fat on cooking juices, the first thing that springs to mind is ALWAYS roast potatoes!