Eszterházy-rostélyos

Ingredients

• 1½ lbbeef rib steakcut into 4 slices, lightly pounded
• 2onionfinely diced
• 3carrotcut into thin strips
• 2parsley rootcut into thin strips
• 5¼ ozceleriaccut into thin strips
• 3 tbsplardfor searing
• 2 tbspflourto thicken the sauce
• ¾ cupsour creamstirred smooth with flour
• ½ cupwinefor deglazing
• ¾ cupbeef brothfor braising; water as substitute
• 1½ tbspmustardfor the tangy note
• 1½ tbspcapersdrained, roughly chopped
• 1lemonpeel thinly pared, juice for seasoning
• 2bay leafbraise along, remove later
• 1 tspSugarbalances the acidity
• 1 tspsweet paprika powderdusted over the vegetables with the flour
• parsleychopped, for sprinkling
• saltto taste
• black pepperground
• 1⅔ tbspvinegaronly for the marinade, with oil and bay leaf (optional)
• 2¾ oztomato pastefor colour and depth in the sauce (optional)

Method

1. Pound the steak slices lightly and season both sides with salt and pepper. Trim the carrots, parsley root and celeriac and cut them into thin strips, and dice the onions finely. Pare the peel thinly from the lemon.
2. Heat the lard or oil in a braising pot and sear the meat well on both sides, then take it out and set it aside.
3. Sweat part of the vegetable strips in a little fat until just tender and set them aside for serving.
4. Sweat the diced onion and the remaining vegetables in the searing fat, dust them with the flour and sweet paprika powder and let them toast briefly.
5. Deglaze with the white wine, pour in the beef broth, add the bay leaves, lemon peel, chopped capers and mustard, and bring everything to a boil once.
6. Return the meat to the pot, cover and braise over low heat until tender — depending on the meat this takes about 1 to 1.5 hours. Top up with broth or water if needed.
7. Lift out the tender meat and remove the bay leaves and lemon peel. Stir the sour cream smooth with the flour, stir it into the sauce and bring it back to a boil, stirring.
8. Season the sauce with lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper until it is nicely tangy and piquant. Return the meat and the sweated vegetable strips and let everything come to a boil together briefly.
9. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Tips and variations

If you like, let the meat sit in a marinade of oil, vinegar and bay leaf in the fridge for 2–3 days beforehand, or turn the slices in flour before searing. For an especially smooth sauce, pass it through a sieve along with the vegetables and only then spoon it over the meat and vegetable strips; for a deeper, reddish version, add tomato paste and paprika powder. Caramelising the sugar in the searing fat first, before the vegetables and onion go in, gives the sauce more depth. Pork leg works in place of beef. It looks especially good if you sweat the vegetables separately in butter with a little broth and arrange them with the meat on warmed plates, then pour the sauce over — with steamed rice, potato fritters or macaroni alongside.