This is a Czech classic and one of my favourite Czech foods that my grandma makes for me. We made it together twice and I took notes both times on how to make it. I believe my grandma makes it the best and this recipe is exactly how she makes it step by step
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/2 a whole celeriac, peeled and grated
- 1 small parsnip, peeled and grated
- 1 carrot, peeled and grated – you can also slice, the not American express version
- 5-7 whole peppers
- 5-7 whole allspice berries (dried)
- 4 dried bay leaves
- 250ml thickened cream – can try halving this
- corn starch
- olive oil, salt and pepper
- 400-500g good quality beef – scotch fillet, rump, eye – the less tendon, the better
- Czech dumpling
- Lard
- Beef stock – approx 1L to use
- 2x lemon
Directions
Preparation – new idea – Finely chop the vegetables (carrot, celeriac and parsnip), then place it is beef stock (~2cups or until submerged) with sugar, vinegar, spices and salt/vinegar. Boil the water for a few mins and let cool. Then place the beef in whole – you can wrap it with strings too
- In your biggest pot with olive oil or lard, turn to high heat and brown the onions
- remove and strain the vegetables, meat and spices from the marinade pot
- Turn to medium heat, add the celeriac, parsnip and then carrot. Add some more olive oil/ lard to prevent burning of the vegetables.
- When the vegetables begin to soften, add back the whole peppers, allspice and bay leaves, pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees
- Add 2 cups* of marinade solution and salt/pepper to the vegetable mix
- Meanwhile, sear all sides of the beef piece, and place in the oven for 20 minutes
- on low heat, boil the pot for 1-2 hours. You may add stock if you wish to have a smoother dish. Add the beef to the pot when it is done
- remove the meat, whole peppers, all spice and bay leaves. Process all the cooked vegetable with a stick food processor particularising all vegetable material.
- strain the contents of the pot removing any fibrous material left by the processor
- add the thickened cream, lemon juice and beef back into the pot. Add corn starch to thicken as desired.
- serve with Czech dumplings and slices of lemon
First solo attempted: Add more cups of water to the pot to cook a smoother contents.* Boil the vegetables for longer to really soften them. Good luck on the dumplings.
second attempt: apply new idea
Abby Approved 