French Boiled Beef and Vegetables

If the glory of French cooking can be summed up with one dish, it is a simple pot of simmered beef and vegetables—the pot-au-feu—(pronounced poe toe fuh) left on the corner of the farmhouse stove or, better yet, over the coals in the hearth. This dish is often a surprise to Americans, who usually think of French dishes as laden with butter and cream. Pot-au-feu is almost completely lean and contains no dairy products.

Although the French have romanticized pot-au-feu