Deák-rostélyos

Ingredients

• 1¾ lbbeef rib steakfour slices, pounded flat
• 2onionfinely diced or sliced, base of the sauce
• 2 tbspflourfor coating the meat and thickening the sauce
• 2 tbsplardfor frying, clarified butter or oil as substitute
• 1¼ cupsbeef brothfor braising liquid
• 7 ozsour creamto finish the sauce
• 1 tspmustardsharp prepared mustard, for the sauce
• 2 tbspPaprika powderstirred into the browned onions
• 8¾ ozcarrotcut into fine matchsticks or slices
• 5¼ ozparsley rootcut into fine matchsticks or slices
• 5¼ ozceleriaccut into fine matchsticks or slices
• 8¾ ozPaprika sausagesliced or crumbled, cooked along
• 2 clovesgarlicfinely chopped
• 2bell peppercut into strips
• 2tomatodiced, fresh or canned
• 1 tbsptomato pastefor colour and depth of the sauce
• ⅔ cupwinedry, for deglazing; more broth as substitute
• 1bay leafbraised along
• 1 bunchparsleyfinely chopped, for sprinkling
• saltfor seasoning
• black pepperfreshly ground
• 2 lbpotatoespeeled, quartered, cooked in the pot (optional)
• 14⅛ ozMushroomscleaned, roughly cut, braised along (optional)
• 1 tbspwine vinegarfor the tangy note of the sauce (optional)

Method

1. Clean the carrot, parsley root and celeriac and cut them into fine matchsticks or slices. Finely chop the onions and garlic, cut the bell peppers into strips and dice the tomatoes.
2. Pat the beef slices dry, pound them flat, season with salt and pepper and turn them in flour.
3. Heat the lard in a wide braising pot and brown the slices well on both sides, then lift them out and set aside. Render the paprika sausage briefly in the same fat and take it out too.
4. Fry the onions in the fat until golden, letting the garlic go in for just a moment at the end. Pull the pot off the high heat before stirring in the paprika powder and tomato paste, so the paprika doesn't turn bitter.
5. Add the root vegetables, pepper strips and tomatoes and let them sweat briefly. Deglaze with the wine and beef broth, add the bay leaf, the mustard and — if you like that tangy edge — the wine vinegar, then season to taste.
6. Return the beef slices to the pot, cover and braise gently for about 10 to 20 minutes, until tender. Top up with a little broth if it gets dry.
7. Lift out the meat and keep it warm, and remove the bay leaf from the sauce before thickening. Stir the flour into the sour cream until smooth, whisk it into the sauce and let it thicken over medium heat for a few minutes; don't let it boil again.
8. Slip the meat and sausage back into the sauce and let everything warm through. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Tips and variations

There is a gentler version — the sauce built only from root vegetables, mustard and sour cream, with no paprika or tomatoes — which one source calls rostélyos in the Esterházy style: part of the cooked vegetables is puréed with the cooking liquid, mustard, flour and sour cream, while a second batch of roots is cooked separately in butter and piled on top as matchsticks. Quartered potatoes can cook alongside the meat in the same pot, in which case you need no side dish at all; button mushrooms make a good extra addition. You can also season with caraway and marjoram, with lemon zest and juice, or with brown sugar and a pinch of hot paprika alongside the sweet. Beef roulade slices work instead of roast beef, cut into pieces; or cube the meat after browning and braise it for several hours. For the sausage, Mangalica pork is the one to look for. Serve with egg noodles and a spoonful of sour cream on top.