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By GAWD This Sounds Good.


Subdeacon Joe

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No, I haven't made it yet.  Likely won't for a couple of months.

Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, was a great lover of Tafelspitz. According to the 1912 official cookery textbook used in domestic science schools of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, “His Majesty’s private table is never without a fine piece of boiled beef, which is one of his favorite dishes.”

 

Quote
The Hirshon Austrian Boiled Beef With Traditional Accompaniments – Tafelspitz
 

Ingredients

  • For the Beef and Vegetables:
  • 2 small yellow onions (unpeeled), halved crosswise,
  • 6 ½ lbs. of one of these cuts, in order of preference: Kavalierspitz (chicken or Yankee steak); bottom-round rump roast with the fat cap attached; or a second-cut beef brisket with ½" layer of fat cap attached
  • 10 (2–3") beef marrow bones
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme (for cooking marrow separately)
  • 1 garlic clove, halved (for cooking marrow separately)
  • 1 pound oxtail, cut into pieces
  • 6 quarts of water (or more as needed to cover)
  • 3 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 18 black peppercorns
  • 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
  • 10 juniper berries
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 handful parsley stems, tied together with kitchen string
  • 1 big clove garlic gently crushed
  • ¼ pound garden carrots scrubbed and whole or peeled and thickly sliced
  • ¼ pound parsnip, parsley root and yellow turnip in equal amounts (or more carrots)
  • ¼ pound celery root, well-peeled and cut into chunks
  • ¼ pound leeks
  • Several lovage stems (or one celery stalk) and one bunch of chives tied together with kitchen string
  • ***
  • Creamed spinach:
  • 4 lb. (about 6 bunches) spinach, washed and trimmed
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • 9 tbsp. butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 3 tbsp. flour
  • 1 cup top-quality beef stock
  • ***
  • Potatoes:
  • 3 medium waxy potatoes, boiled halfway through, drained, covered, and refrigerated overnight
  • 2 medium onions, sliced
  • 4 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
  • ***
  • For the Apple-Horseradish Sauce and the White Sauce:
  • 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch–thick slices
  • 3 tbsp. finely grated peeled horseradish root
  • 1 tbsp. plus ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp. sugar, plus more
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 slice white bread, crust removed
  • ⅓ cup milk
  • 1 hard-cooked egg yolk
  • 1 raw egg yolk
  • ½ tsp. German-style mustard
  • ½ tsp. white vinegar
  • ¼ tsp. freshly ground white pepper
  • ¼ bunch chives, finely chopped
  • ***
  • For the crêpe slivers used in the soup:
  • 75 g (⅔ cup) flour (fine)
  • 125 ml (.2 pt) whole milk
  • 2 eggs
  • salt
  • 30 g (⅛ cup) butter
  • ***
  • Minced chives to garnish the soup and final dishes
  • Freshly grated horseradish
  • Sliced fresh lovage leaves (if unavailable, use fresh celery leaves)
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  • Fleur de sel

Instructions

  1. Pre-salting the meat: A couple of days ahead, wash and dry the meat. Do not trim any fat! Salt generously over and place on a rack uncovered in a refrigerator.
  2. Blanch the bones and oxtail: In a large 12-quart stock pot, add the bones and oxtail and cover with cold water over a high flame. Bring to a rolling boil. Strain and rinse bones and oxtail and wash the pot.
  3. For the beef: Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add unpeeled onion halves, cut side down, and cook without turning until blackened, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
  4. Add 5 quarts water to the pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Put ⅓ of the turnips, carrots, celery, parsley root, and leeks into pot. Add meat, 4 of the marrowbones, whole peppercorns, and onions to pot and return to just below a boil.
  5. Partially cover pot and SIMMER, skimming foam that surfaces, until meat is very tender, as needed for the Kavalierspitz, 2 ½ - 3 ½ hours for the rump or 3 hours for the brisket.
  6. Transfer meat and marrow bones to a dish and cover with plastic wrap to keep warm. Strain broth through a double layer of cheesecloth into a bowl, discarding vegetables. Return broth to pot and season to taste with salt.
  7. Add remaining turnips, carrots, celery, parsley roots, and leeks and simmer over medium-high heat until vegetables are just tender, 12-15 minutes. Remove vegetables from broth and cut into ½"-thick slices. Transfer to a dish and cover with plastic wrap to keep warm.
  8. Place the remaining marrowbones, marrow sides up, in a saucepan. Cover with cold water, and add the thyme and garlic. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and let the bones poach until the marrow is translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Drain the bones.
  9. Slide a paring knife around the inside of the hole to gently push the marrow free, and cut the marrow into ½-inch slices. Reheat the marrow in a 250°F oven or at a low setting in a microwave just before serving.
  10. Remove marrow from the bones cooked in the stock with meats, discarding the bones, and whisk the marrow into the broth. Strain broth through a double layer of cheesecloth into a pot.
  11. For the creamed spinach: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in baking soda and generously season with salt. Add spinach and cook until wilted, 30-40 seconds. Drain spinach in a colander and rinse under cold running water until cool. Squeeze out excess water and set aside.
  12. Heat 6 tbsp. of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Add spinach and stir until coated in butter and just warmed through. Add half the garlic, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Pulse spinach in a food processor until finely chopped, then set aside.
  13. Melt remaining butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Gradually add stock, whisking constantly, and continue to whisk until sauce is very thick, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and remaining garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until spinach is heated through, 1-2 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Transfer to a serving pot, cover, and keep warm over lowest heat.
  14. For the crêpe shreds: Mix the crêpe mixture using the flour, milk, eggs and salt. Heat the butter in a pan and make thin crêpes from the mixture, frying them golden brown on both sides. Roll up each crêpe individually and slice finely. Distribute the slivers in a soup bowl and pour over hot soup.
  15. For the potatoes: Peel and grate potatoes on the large holes of a box grater. Heat 2 tbsp. of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  16. Cover bottom of skillet with half the potatoes and cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute. Scatter half the sliced onions over the potatoes, season to taste with salt, and cook, undisturbed, for 2-3 minutes. Stir mixture, then cook until potatoes are golden brown, about 7 minutes more, stirring mixture every 2 minutes or so. Transfer to a serving pot and keep warm over lowest heat.
  17. Repeat process with remaining oil, potatoes, and onions. Garnish with parsley just before serving.
  18. For the apple-horseradish sauce: Steam apples in a covered steamer basket set over a pot of gently boiling water until soft, about 5 minutes. Using a fork, mash apples, horseradish, 1 tbsp. oil, 2 tsp. sugar, and salt to taste together in a bowl, then transfer to a serving dish and set aside to let cool.
  19. For the white sauce: Soak bread in milk until soft, then squeeze out excess milk from bread, reserving milk. Using the back of a spoon, push bread and hard-cooked egg yolk through a sieve into a medium bowl. Add raw egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, pepper, a pinch of sugar, and salt to taste to bowl and whisk until smooth.
  20. Add ½ cup oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly, then whisk in milk. Adjust seasonings. Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with chives just before serving.
  21. Serve remaining broth in soup bowls ladled over shredded crêpes as a first course. ALWAYS garnish this soup with minced chives - it’s not Austrian without that touch!
  22. Then serve 2 or 3 slices of beef moistened with up to a cup of broth per serving. The meat should not be submerged! Add the sliced root vegetables. Add in reserved cooked marrow to each bowl. Garnish with noted ingredients. Pass with more horseradish.
  23. Serve with the potatoes, creamed spinach, white sauce, and apple-horseradish sauce.

 

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If I handed that recipe to Miss Lorrie and told her that's what I want for supper, the resulting explosion would sear the feathers off of all song birds within 1/2 mile.

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You’d need to buy the entire grocery store to have all of the ingredients.

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I'm sure you would could never find all the ingredients in one store. I'm pretty sure your would be hard pressed to find them if you looked in all the stores in a town with a population of less than 100,000.

 

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Yeah, but that is one impressive recipe.

 

Joe, when you make this, if you make it for company, you should print that recipe out for them to see so they know what you did so they could enjoy that fabulous meal. Impressive. 

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2 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Yeah, but that is one impressive recipe.

 

Joe, when you make this, if you make it for company, you should print that recipe out for them to see so they know what you did so they could enjoy that fabulous meal. Impressive. 

 

Given the quantities required of meat and potatoes this likely feeds 6 to 8 adults.

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I’d need a sous chef, several line cooks and a bigass kitchen. I’d drink and supervise. :lol:

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1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Up to twelve is likely.

 

I was thinking 8 to 10.  But, if you start with some bread and salad, then 12 to 16  would be reasonable. 

 

2 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

You’d need to buy the entire grocery store to have all of the ingredients.

 

I likely have at least 2/3 of the stuff on hand now.  I'd need to get the beef and ox tails, of course. The leeks (some of which I get about once a month anyway), the fresh parsley, and the fresh spinach.  I'd likely substitute in the extra carrots for the parsnip and the celery for the lovage.  

But, really, how is it, other than the seemingly lengthy Bill of Materials, all that different from a good stew or soup?  Those often have a lengthy BoM, but most of the ingredients are found in any decent pantry.

 

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

They had plastic wrap in 1912?B)

 

Likely a bowl with a plate over it. Maybe a pot with a lid.  Or even parchment paper.


 

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6 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

I bet I could leave off 75% of the ingredients, half the steps, start the meals off with some schnapps, and even Franz Joseph I would not know the difference.

 

 

Given that about half of the Bill of Materials is for two sides, two sauces, and garnish, no bet. 

Of the BoM for the beef, likely you could leave out the celery root, parsnips, lovage, marrow bones, parsley stems, and leeks without anyone noticing.  Unless they had an extremely well developed palate.

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37 minutes ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

OK, went back and looked at original article.  *** showed the end of the various sections

 

I had the same thought when I first read it, then realized, as you did, that it was just a break between sections.

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55 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Seems like a lot of fuss when I live within a few miles of six or seven really outstanding eateries...and a couple of dozen really, REALLY bad ones.

But where could an emperor eat before WW I?  They weren’t there.

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