Svíčková recipe

Beef larded with smoked bacon, marinated a full day on root vegetables, then braised and served under a sauce thickened only by those blended roots and cream.

1 day and 4 hoursmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1000 g beef sirloin
• 100 g smoked bacon
• 2 carrots
• 1 parsley root
• 200 g celeriac
• 1 onion
• 200 ml heavy cream
• 50 g butter
• 500 ml beef stock
• 5 allspice berries
• 10 black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves

How to make Svíčková

1. Cut deep slits in 1 kg beef sirloin and push 100 g smoked bacon, cut into batons, into them. Without this larding the lean joint dries out.
2. Bury the meat under 2 sliced carrots, 1 sliced parsley root, 200 g diced celeriac, 1 sliced onion, 5 allspice berries, 10 peppercorns and 2 bay leaves, cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Skipping this rest is the usual mistake.
3. Wipe the meat dry and sear it on all sides in 50 g butter, then lift it out.
4. Fry the marinade vegetables in the same butter for 10 minutes until they take colour, then pour in 500 ml beef stock.
5. Return the beef, cover and braise at 160°C for 2 hours 30, until a fork slides in without resistance.
6. Lift out the meat, pick out the bay leaves and whole spices, and blend the vegetables smooth. They are the only thickener; no flour goes in.
7. Stir 200 ml heavy cream into the sauce and warm it without letting it boil.
8. Slice the beef across the grain, ladle the sauce over it and serve with bread dumplings, cranberry sauce, a spoon of whipped cream and a slice of lemon.

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