Svíčková na smetaně
Czech marinated beef in creamy root-vegetable sauce with dumplings
Svíčková is the dish Czech families make for weddings, name days and big Sunday lunches, and in Prague pubs it appears on the menu as the proud centre of the week. Beef is marinated for a day or two with root vegetables and spices, slow-roasted, and the vegetables are then blended into a smooth, sweet-sour cream sauce. It is always served the same way: sliced beef, a pool of sauce, bread dumplings, a spoonful of cranberry sauce, a twist of whipped cream and a slice of lemon. Many cooks under-season the sauce; it should taste clearly of vinegar, sugar and allspice, not just cream. The optional smoked bacon that flavours the vegetables is pork; leave it out and the sauce is still rich. Chef's tip: blend the sauce until completely velvety, then push it through a sieve; that silky finish is what makes svíčková special.
- Total time
- 220 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the beef and marinade
For the sauce
To serve
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (11)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/10 doneStep 1: Trim any sinew from 2 ⅝ lb beef sirloin or topside, in one piece. Rub it with 2 tsp salt. Put it in a non-metal dish with 3 carrots, 2 parsley root or parsnip, 9 oz celeriac and 2 onions.
Step 2: Bring 2 cups water, ½ cup white wine vinegar, 8 allspice berries, 10 black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves and 1 tsp dried thyme to the boil, cool completely, then pour over the beef and vegetables. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 24–48 hours, turning the beef once or twice.
1440 minStep 3: Heat the oven to 325°F (275°F fan). Lift out the beef and pat dry. Melt 1 ⅜ oz butter in a casserole over a medium-high heat (fry 2 ⅞ oz smoked streaky bacon first if using) and brown the beef on all sides, about 8 minutes.
10 minStep 4: Lift out the beef. Add the drained vegetables and fry for 10 minutes until starting to colour. Return the beef, pour over the marinade with its spices, cover and roast for 2–2½ hours, turning the beef halfway, until a skewer slides in easily.
150 minStep 5: Lift out the beef, cover with foil and rest for 15 minutes. Fish out the bay leaves, allspice and peppercorns.
15 minStep 6: Sprinkle 2 tbsp plain flour over the vegetables and liquid in the casserole and stir over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add 300 ml water and simmer for 5 minutes.
7 minStep 7: Blend with a stick blender until completely smooth, then pass through a sieve back into the pan. Stir in 1 ¼ cups single cream and 1 tsp mild mustard and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
5 minStep 8: Season with 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice and more salt until sweet, sour and savoury are in balance. Thin with water if thicker than double cream.
Step 9: Meanwhile steam or warm 12 Czech bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky) until hot right through, about 10 minutes.
10 minStep 10: Slice the beef thinly across the grain and warm the slices briefly in the sauce. Serve with dumplings, plenty of sauce, a spoonful of 6 tbsp cranberry sauce, 6 tbsp whipped cream and 1 lemon. Leftovers keep 3 days in the fridge; reheat until piping hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 690 kcal
- Protein
- 48 g
- Carbs
- 46 g
- Fat
- 34 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does svíčková na smetaně take?
- About 220 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 180 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of carrots?
- Parsnip or sweet potato, same weight.
- What can I use instead of parsley root or parsnip?
- Carrot or swede, same weight.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Tteokgalbi
Tteokgalbi is rib meat chopped finely, pressed back into neat slabs and grilled, so it's soft enough to eat without struggling with a bone. Two places in South Jeolla claim it: Damyang, the bamboo county, where all-beef patties come with rice steamed in bamboo tubes, and Gwangju's Songjeong district, whose restaurant street near the railway station mixes beef with pork. This home version uses minced beef and pork, seasoned with soy, garlic and pear, then brushed with a soy and honey glaze as it cooks. Serve with rice, lettuce and a few banchan; leftovers are good cold in a lunchbox. Chef's tip: slap the mince against the bowl for a few minutes; it turns sticky and the patties hold together on the grill without any breadcrumbs.
Korean
Char siu
Hanging in long glossy strips in the windows of Guangzhou's siu mei shops, char siu is the roast pork Cantonese families pick up on the way home to put on rice, noodles or into steamed buns. The outside is lacquered, sweet and a little charred at the edges; the inside stays juicy, savoury and faintly scented with five-spice. Shoulder (pork butt) is the cut to use, because its marbling keeps the strips moist through a hot oven. Marinate it overnight in the fridge, roast it the next day and eat it warm with steamed rice and blanched greens, or cold in fried rice and noodle soups. Chef's tip: save the honey for the last ten minutes; brushed on at the start it burns black long before the pork is cooked.
Chinese