svickova

Traditional Czech sauce made from root vegetables and heavy cream. Served with a beef slice and bread dumplings.

Svíčková na smetaně

lbs (1,4 kg) beef (e.g. top blade)

bacon (for larding meat)

1 and 1/2 Tbsp lard

pepper

salt

carrots

parsley root

oz (200 g) celeriac

onions

apple

(55 g) butter (unsalted)

(100 g) granulated sugar

(60 ml) vinegar

bay leaves

allspice balls

peppercorns

Tbsp all-purpose flour

lemon

Cut bacon into ⅓ inch thick and about 4 inch long pieces and put them into a freezer for 30 minutes to harden them.

Use a thin knife with a long edge and make some holes into the meat.

Stick your index finger inside each hole and wiggle it so the hole enlarges.

You can make the holes into both sides of the beef.

Once you have the holes ready, press in stripes of bacon.

For a better shape, you can tie the irregular-shaped meat with a cooking string (kitchen twine).

After the meat is larded (and tied if you tied it), salt and pepper it properly from all sides.

Lard the beef with stripes of bacon:

Peel the carrot, parsley root, and celeriac, dice into ½ inch pieces.

Peel onions and chop them roughly. Peel an apple and dice it.

If possible, tie the spices tightly in a clean canvas; you will place the canvas with spices into a pot later.

Prepare the vegetables and spices:

In a large heavy pot, melt lard over higher heat and sear the beef from all sides until golden brown. Remove the browned meat and set it aside.

Brown the beef:

Use the same pot which we used to prepare the meat. Reduce temperature to medium heat, add butter and any leftover bacon from larding.

Add diced carrots, parsley root, and celeriac. Cook until slightly golden, stirring occasionally.

Throw chopped onions to vegetables and cook until lightly golden. Add a diced apple and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add sugar, mix, and let it melt while stirring.

Pour in vinegar, mix, and let vinegar evaporate, so that there are only vegetables and some fat on the bottom of the pot.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt and mix it.

Sautée the vegetables:

Return the browned beef to a pot, pour over hot water until you have the meat almost submerged.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt and spices.

Count the number of bay leaves if you add them to the pot freely! You have to remove them all later before the final mixing of svíčková sauce.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a minimum. Cover with a lid and allow it to simmer for 2,5 hours.

Remove the spices, especially all bay leaves. Remove ¼ of vegetables and discard them. If you left all the vegetables in the sauce, it would taste too much like the vegetables, and it would be too dense.

Take out the beef and keep it in a warm place.

Cooking beef:

In a pan, melt butter on medium heat.

Add flour, frequently mix until lightly golden.

Get a sieve, put roux in it, submerge into the svíčková and press roux through the sieve. Continuously mix the roux in the sauce.

Bring the pot back on a stove, let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Stir occasionally because the roux tends to sit down and stick to the bottom of the pot. The roux loses its floury taste after about 15 minutes of simmering. It thickens the sauce, whose taste will be very smooth.

Making roux:

Add heavy cream into sauce; no more cooking!

Mix everything with an immersion blender and strain the sauce in a clean pot. Season with lemon juice and salt to your liking.

Serve with bread dumplings and a slice of beef.

Finishing svíčková:

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Svíčková na smetaně

Top 1 svickova recipes from across the web

The most viewed svickova recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Svíčková na smetaně

The most viewed svickova recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine