Recipe: Pot-au-Feu

Here's a food and wine pairing that will keep you warm as the leaves start to fall and the nights get cooler. Recipe is from French Country Cooking, a beautiful cookbook by Mimi Thorisson - pick up your copy for more of her amazing recipes.

Serves: 6

Pairs with: Niagara College 2012 Dean's List Meritage (Find it in the Autumn ClubK box!)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds / 900 g veal shank
• 1½ pounds / 750 g tender beef shoulder or brisket
• 2 pounds / 900 g boneless beef brisket, rolled
• 8 whole cloves
• 2 large yellow onions, unpeeled and halved
• 1 pound / 450 g carrots, peeled and halved
• 1 pound / 450 g leeks, white and pale-green parts, cut into chunks
• 3 celery stalks, halved
• 1 turnip, peeled and cut into chunks 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 bouquet garni
• 1 bay leaf
• coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 medium russet potatoes, halved
• ½ head savoy cabbage, sliced into large strips
• cornichons, for serving
• dijon mustard, for serving

1. Individually tie the veal shank, beef shoulder, and brisket firmly with kitchen twine so the pieces keep their shape during cooking. Put them in a very large pot and add enough water to cover. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water boils, remove from the heat and discard the water. Remove all of the pieces of meat, set aside on a large plate, and rinse the pot to get rid of any traces of scum. Return the meat to the pot.

2. Stick the cloves into the onion halves. Toss them into the pot along with the carrots, leeks, celery, turnip, garlic, bouquet garni, and bay leaf and cover with cold water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover the pot, reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 hours, checking the pot from time to time to skim off any scum from the surface and to add water if necessary to cover the ingredients.

3. Add the potatoes and cabbage and continue to simmer until they are tender, about 45 minutes. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

4. Take out the meat and vegetables and transfer to a large serving plate. Slice the meat. Spoon a few ladles of the broth into bowls, add some meat and vegetables, and serve with the cornichons, mustard, and some salt.

*Recipe excerpted from French Country Cooking: Meals and Moments from a Village in the Vineyards by Mimi Thorisson. Copyright © 2016 Marie-France Thorisson. Photography copyright © Oddur Thorisson. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.