Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 1/2 lb. (680 g) beef sirloin
- 2 oz. (55 g) bacon fat
- 1 cup (235 ml) beef stock (use low-salt if canned, TFD strongly prefers homemade for this recipe)
- salt
- pepper
- 2 tbsp. vinegar
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 7 oz. (200 g) celeriac (1 medium root), peeled and diced
- 1 medium parsley root, peeled and diced - optional but strongly recommended. If unavailable, use 1/3 a rutabaga and a small turnip
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 1/2 oz. (100 g) butter, melted
- 10 black peppercorns
- 4 allspice berries
- 6 juniper berries
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup (235 ml) full-fat sour cream (plus some milk) - TFD endorses only Daisy brand
- sugar
- 3 tbsp. strong Dijon mustard (TFD prefers Edmond Fallon brand)
- ***
- Recipe for bread dumplings:
- 2 pinches salt
- 1/2 tsp ground mace (and a bit of turmeric if you want to have a tasty-looking yellow tint to the dumplings; the flavor is good too)
- 2 cups (475 ml) coarse flour (hruba mouka) - Mix all-purpose flour with semolina in a 1:1 ratio
- 2 cups (475 ml) semi-coarse flour (polohruba mouka) - Mix all-purpose flour with semolina in a 2:1 ratio
- Approx. 1 cup (235 ml) lukewarm milk (more if the dough is dry)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2-3 rolls or buns (the traditional-sized ones, they’re about 70g each)
- 1 egg
- 1 cube fresh yeast (or the dried yeast equivalent)
- ***
- To garnish:
- cranberry or lingonberry preserves
- sour cream
- lemon slices
Instructions
- Lard the meat (prick it with a knife or a big kitchen needle and stuff strips of the bacon fat through the sirloin). If you are using a big piece of meat, freeze the fat beforehand; it is much easier to get the fat through the whole length that way. Then, season with salt and pepper.
- Grind all the spices including the bay leaves, then add them to the meat with the diced root vegetables, 1 tbsp. vinegar and pour melted butter over the meat to seal it. Let it marinate in a fridge overnight.
- Add the stock, cover with a lid and braise in the oven at 320 °F (160 °C) until the meat is very soft – you should be able to cut it with a fork. This usually takes 2-4 hours.
- For the dumplings:
- First, mix the flours with the salt and spices.
- Dissolve the sugar in ½ the milk, add crumbled yeast and let it grow in there a bit, until “islands” of new yeast start to from on the surface.
- Pour the egg into the flour, then pour in the milk (bit by bit) and yeast, and knead with your hands. Keep adding milk until you have a nice dough that’s not too dry and not too sticky (though it can be slightly wetter and stickier than your instinct would suggest – you’ll still add the buns that soak up a bit of the milk).
- Cut the rolls or buns into a small dice (a little smaller than ½” cubed). Gently mix the bread into the dough. Then form the dumpling mixture into a roll(s) – a 2-3 inch diameter will give you sufficiently big dumplings after you’ve left the dough to rise for about 45 minutes.
- Gently lower the roll into salted boiling water and cook for 16-19 minutes. You want to take it out before the crust gets slick. Prick with a fork (this prevents it from collapsing after it cools down a bit)
- When you’re ready to serve, cut the dumpling into circles ⅔-inch thick – using floss or a cheese wire to cut is ideal.
- Set them aside in a warm oven.
- Remove the meat and press the vegetables through a fine sieve (you can even use cloth for an extra fine texture). Use a hand blender if the texture is still not very fine and creamy.
- Add the sour cream and mustard and bring to boil; add salt, and the last tbsp. of vinegar – add some whole milk if the sauce needs to be thinned out. To highlight the sweet and sour taste, add some caramelized sugar (caramelize 1 tbsp. of sugar – when it starts melting and turns brown, add some water and cook).
- Cut the sirloin into ½” thick circles; put these back into sauce to heat them through. Garnish with cranberry or lingonberry preserves, lemon slices, a dollop of sour cream and bread dumpling slices.