Svíčková na smetaně s knedliky or Roast beef in a creamy vegetable sauce with dumplings

Serves 4-5 with plenty of leftovers

This is a great recipe of Martin’s family to add to the cultural diversity of this volume of recipes. It is a traditional Czech recipe, perfect for cold winter days, the sauce is in particular wonderful and enhances the roast flavours of the meat and dumplings. And if you can get someone to cook it for you while you read by the fire, that’s even better.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg beef for roasting (tenderloin is the best, otherwise top sirloin),

  • smoked pork belly fat (or very streaky bacon).

  • 3-4 medium carrots (the more carrots, the sweeter the sauce),

  • 3 small parsley roots,

  • ½ large celery (the more celery, the crisper the sauce),

  • 1 small onion.

  • 80 g butter,

  • olive oil,

  • salt,

  • ground black pepper,

  • allspice (4-5 whole fruits),

  • 5 bay leaves,

  • black pepper (10 whole peppercorns),

  • sour cream (100 mL),

  • ½ teaspoon ground lemon rind.

Meat preparation (day 1)

Clean the meat by removing all fat and membranes. To add moisture during roasting, larder the beef by threading strips of pork fat through small incisions in the meat (the trick here is to cut the fat/bacon into strips approx. 3-4 mm thick and then put them into the freezer for a couple of hours for them to harden). Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and smear with olive oil. Leave in the fridge overnight.

Roasting (day 2)

Heat a little olive oil in a pot (this is going to be a pot roast, so a large oven-friendly pot is needed, alternatively use a glass roasting dish with a lid), then sear the meat until brown. Set the meat aside together with all the fat. In the same pot, melt the butter, add diced carrots, parsley root and celery, and sauté for approx. 10 minutes. Add allspice, whole pepper and bay leaves. Towards the end, add chopped onion and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.

In the meantime, boil 1 litre water in a kettle. Put meat (and the juices) back to the pot. Add water so that the meat is half-immersed. Roast in the oven for approx. 2 hrs 200°C until tender. The meat needs to be checked regularly - turn at least once during the roasting and pour the juice over the meat every 20 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside. Cut into thin slices with a carving knife.

To make the sauce, remove all the bay leaves from the sauce base - IMPORTANT. While still warm, blend the vegetables using a hand-held blender to create a smooth, thick sauce. Heat on medium heat. Add sour cream (start with 2-3 tablespoons and then add more to taste). If the sauce is too thick, dilute with a little bit of milk. Simmer for approx. 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add lemon rind. The sauce in now ready to be served, although it somehow always tastes a bit better if served re-heated the day after.

Serve the beef with Bohemian dumplings, generously overlaid with the hot creamy sauce. Garnish with a spoonful of cranberry sauce and a slice of lemon.

Bohemian dumplings

  • 3-4 medium soft white bread rolls,

  • 750 g plain wheat flour (the coarser, the better),

  • 1 egg,

  • 1 cup milk,

  • 1 tbsp baking powder,

  • pinch of salt.

Dice the bread rolls. Add flour, egg, baking powder, salt and milk. Work manually into thick dough. Divide into two ellipsoidal loaves and let rise for 30 minutes. Boil 3L of water, add 1 tsp salt. Put the loaves into the boiling water. They will stick to the bottom first but will eventually float. Boil for 15 minutes, then turn the loaves upside down and boil for another 15 minutes. Remove loaves from the water and put on a flat surface. Cut into thin (1cm slices) with a piece of sewing thread (don’t try to cut with a knife, it doesn’t work with warm dumplings).

Note: Dumplings may be frozen. To reheat, place frozen dumpling slices into a steamer and set over boiling water. Cover and steam until warm.