Svíčková na Smetaně

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg beef top sirloin or sirloin cap, in one piece
• 80 g smoked streaky bacon, cut into thin strips for larding
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 parsley root, peeled and chopped
• 200 g celeriac, peeled and chopped
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
• 50 g butter
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 allspice berries
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 500 ml beef stock
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 250 ml double cream
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced, to serve
• 6 tbsp whole cranberry sauce, to serve
• 120 ml double cream, whipped, to serve
• 2 tsp salt

Before you cook

• Trim any silverskin from the beef, then push a thin knife through the meat in six or seven places and thread a strip of bacon into each hole.
• Rub the beef all over with 1 teaspoon of the salt and leave it on a plate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Peel and roughly chop the carrots, parsley root, celeriac and onions into 2 cm pieces.
• Tie the thyme sprigs into a small bundle with kitchen string.

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 160C fan.
2. Melt the lard in a heavy casserole over high heat until it shimmers.
3. Sear the beef for 3 minutes on each side until the whole surface is deeply browned, then lift it out onto a plate.
4. Drop the heat to medium and add the butter to the pot.
5. Add all the chopped root vegetables and onions and cook them for 12 minutes, stirring, until the edges are golden and the pot smells sweet.
6. Stir in the bay leaves, allspice, peppercorns, mustard seeds and the thyme bundle and cook for 1 minute.
7. Pour in the vinegar and let it hiss and evaporate for 1 minute.
8. Sit the beef back on top of the vegetables along with any juices from the plate.
9. Pour in the beef stock, which should come about halfway up the meat.
10. Bring the pot to a simmer on the hob, then cover it and slide it into the oven.
11. Braise for 2 hours, turning the beef over once at the halfway point, until a skewer slides into the centre with no resistance.
12. Lift the beef onto a board, cover it loosely with foil and leave it to rest.
13. Fish out the thyme bundle and the bay leaves from the pot and discard them.
14. Blend the vegetables and cooking liquid to a completely smooth sauce with a stick blender, then push it through a sieve back into the pot for a silkier finish.
15. Whisk the flour into the 250 ml of double cream in a jug until no lumps remain.
16. Set the pot over medium-low heat and whisk the cream mixture into the sauce.
17. Simmer the sauce for 8 minutes, whisking often, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
18. Stir in the sugar and the remaining salt, then taste and add a splash more vinegar if the sauce needs lifting.
19. Carve the rested beef across the grain into 1 cm slices.
20. Spoon a pool of sauce onto each plate, lay the beef slices in it, and top each portion with a spoonful of cranberry sauce, a spoonful of whipped cream and a slice of lemon.
21. Serve with Czech bread dumplings for mopping the sauce.