The Czech Republic: Svíčková Beef with Cream Sauce, Caraway Potatoes & Bacon Braised Cabbage
The Czech
Republic, also known as Czechi, is a land-locked country in Central
Europe. With historic territories in Bohemia and Moravia this parliamentary republic
shares borders with Poland to the north, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the
south and Germany to the west. Water from the Czech Republic flows to three different seas:
the Black Sea, Baltic Sea and North Sea.
Being located in the heart of Europe, Czech cuisine has been
influenced by food methods from neighbours in all directions. The country’s
history of farming, hunting and trade have influenced key ingredients of meat,
dairy products, bread, grains, root vegetables & fruits. It is a sumptuous, rich food that is
surprisingly easy to cook as the meat is marinated the day before you want to
eat. The side dishes of bread, berries and cream really make it a special
dinner.
Our Czech Republic Menu included
Svíčková Beef with Cream Sauce
Caraway Potatoes
&
Bacon Braised Cabbage
Which we served with
Sourdough rye bread, cranberry preserves & sour cream
...............................................................
SVÍČKOVÁ BEEF WITH CREAM SAUCE
(pronounced sveech-covah)
Ingredients
• 1 kg beef sirloin (or round rump) with fat
left on
• 80 g bacon fat, cut in long strips
• 1 cup
beef stock
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 large carrot, grated in strips
• 3 sticks celery, grated in strips
• 1 medium parsnip root, grated in strips
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 100 g butter, melted
• 10 black peppercorns
• 8 allspice berries
• 2 bay leafs
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1 cup heavy cream
Method
1.
Begin the day
before by larding the meat with the bacon fat
2.
Use a small knife
or a larding needle to make tunnels through the meat
3.
Stuff the strips
of the bacon fat through the tunnels in the sirloin
4.
Season with salt,
add the spices, garlic, root vegetables, lemon juice, vinegar, place it in a
covered dish in the fridge to marinate overnight
5.
The meat will take
3 hours to cook and it will take a further half hour to get it on the table, so
if you want to eat at 7.30pm you will need the meat to go in the oven at 4pm
6.
Begin by heating
the oven to 180 degrees °C (320 °F)
7.
Melt the butter in
a large Dutch oven pot on the stove top
8.
Add the marinated
meat & seal on all sides
9.
Add the stock
& all other ingredients from the marinade and bring the pot to the boil,
stir well then over with a lid and begin braising in the oven
10.
Take the pot out
of the oven after ½ an hour & turn the meat over, giving the vegetables a
good stir to ensure they are not sticking to the pot
11.
Repeat step 10
after an hour and again after another hour
12.
After 3 hours remove
the pot from the oven
13.
Take the meat from
the pot & place it in a heatproof dish & cover with a lid or foil to
keep the meat warm and let it rest
14.
The vegetables are
now ready to be made into the cream sauce
15.
Take all the
ingredients remaining in the pan and pass them through a fine sieve or your electric
blender until smooth & creamy. Don’t worry about removing the peppercorns
or allspice berries as they are now soft.
16.
Pour the vegetable
puree into a sauce pan and gently begin to a simmer, stirring often
17.
Now add the cream
and bring back to simmer, gently cooking & stirring until the sauce is
thick enough to coat the back of a spoon
18.
While the sauce is
reducing carve the sirloin into thick circles
19.
You can plate the
meat as you slice it & serve the sauce in a jug, or follow the more
traditional way & put the meat back into sauce & heat them through.
This is a Q_Zine
original recipe informed by recipes found at:
https://prague.tv/en/s72/Directory/c203-Dining/n2542-Czech-specialties-Svickova-beef-sirloin-in-cream-sauce
CARAWAY POTATOES
Ingredients
·
I
kg new/small washed potatoes with the skin on
·
1
tsp salt
·
1
tsp caraway seeds
·
1
tbs butter
Method
1. Place potatoes &
salt in a pot & cover with cold water
2. Cover the pot &
gently bring potatoes to the boil. We cook gently to prevent the skins from
splitting
3. Cook at a gently
rolling boil until tender; about 25 minutes
4. Drain potatoes from
the water, put back into the warm pot, place on a warm part of the stove top
(not a hot element) & cover with a lid to steam dry & keep warm
5. When you are ready to serve the potatoes take
out a small frypan & dry roast the caraway seeds to release the fragrance
& flavour
6. Add the butter to
the pan & gently melt
7.
Pour the caraway butter over the potatoes & put the lid back on for a
minute so the potatoes become infused with the seed’s aroma
This is a Q_Zine
original recipe informed by information found at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_cuisine
BRAISED CABBAGE WITH BACON
Ingredients:
· I large head of cabbage
· 200gm Bacon, diced
· 1 small onion, chopped
· 1 stalk celery, chopped
· 1 small red Capsicum/Bell pepper, chopped
· 3 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
· 1 tbs vegetable oil
· ½ tsp salt (plus a tsp salt for the boiling
water)
· ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Method:
1.
First you need to
finely shred the cabbage. Discard the outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut cabbage
in ¼, cut away the hard, white core of the cabbage & discard. Now shred the
cabbage quarters finely
2.
Bring a large pot
of water to the boil & add the tsp salt
3.
Plunge the cabbage
into the boiling water, bring pot back to the boil
4.
Cook cabbage
briefly, until it turns bright green, then remove and drain
5.
Put cabbage back
into the hot pot, cover with a lid & set aside to keep warm
6.
Heat a large
skillet with some of the oil and add the onion
7.
Saute the onion
over a medium heat until opaque
8.
When onion begins
to brown add the bacon & saute until the bacon is brown
9.
Deglaze the saute
pan with the Apple Cider Vinegar, stir well to gather all the caramelised
ingredients from the bottom of the pan then pour all the ingredients from the
pan into the cabbage pot & replace the lid to keep warm
10.
Now add the
remaining oil to the frypan & re-heat pan to medium
11.
Add the celery
& capsicum & saute until crisp & tender
12.
Add the sauted
vegetables to the cabbage pot along with the salt & pepper them mix well
13.
The braised
cabbage can now either be served warm or cilled and served later.
This is a Q_Zine
original recipe informed a recipe found at:
Comments
Post a Comment