Spring Vegetable Pot au Feu for French Fridays with Dorie

I haven't been very regular with my French Fridays with Dorie posts lately. To be honest, I just haven't been all that inspired by the dishes (with the notable exception of the bacon, asparagus, and egg salad, which I wish I'd made, and the quiche, which I completely futzed with).

But her warm weather vegetable pot au feu really appealed to me, partly because it's more of a method than a recipe, and partly because of that lovely, squishy poached egg, which I'll get to in a moment.  The basic idea here is that you successively saute and simmer some spring veggies in chicken or vegetable broth to create layers of flavor, and finish the whole lot with chopped herbs or an herb coulis of your choice.


Dorie's combo was nice, but I went with what I had and what appealed to me - garlic, leeks, onions, red fingerling potatoes, carrots, and fresh corn. About 5 minutes before serving, I added bok choy, French sorrel, and watercress, and finished the dish with a Thai basil coulis.

Meanwhile, Poppa Trix poached the eggs, something he loves to do and does really well, as you can see from the photo. By the way, Dorie says this dish doesn't keep, but it does if you only add enough tender greens for each serving and make the eggs a la minute.  We enjoyed this both for dinner and for brunch the following day.

Now, a word about those eggs. I know that some people are squeamish about runny yolks, and if you are one of those people I urge you to please make yourself get over it. You can do it! How do I know this? I didn't eat meat for 10 years and jumped right into beef tartar and rabbit belly. Believe me when I tell you our culinary aversions are all (or mostly) in our heads.

I am only saying this because I love you.  You are missing out on so much tasty goodness if you never experience the warm, melting comfort of a thick, gooey yolk. It makes everything it touches better, and in this case turns the broth into a creamy wonder.

Don't believe me? Behold:

Here endeth the lesson.

If you want to join in and cook dishes from Around My French Table, grab a copy of the book and sign up here.  In the meantime, embrace those runny yolks, people! Happy French Friday.