Klauzál-rostélyos

Ingredients

• 1¾ lbbeef rib steak4 slices, patted dry, salted and dredged in flour
• 2onionfinely diced or sliced, fried as the base
• 2 clovesgarlicfinely chopped
• 3 tbspflourfor coating the meat and thickening the sauce
• 2 tbsplardfor frying; clarified butter or neutral oil instead
• 1⅔ cupsbeef stockhot, for braising
• 1 tbspPaprika powderstirred briefly into the onions, do not let it brown
• 2 lbpotatoespeeled, quartered or cut into eighths, braised along
• 2bell pepperseeded, cut into strips
• 3tomatodiced; canned tomatoes work too
• 1 tbsptomato pastefried briefly with the paprika
• 10½ ozcarrotcut into sticks or chunks
• ½ cupwinefor deglazing, reduced; stock instead
• 1bay leafbraised along
• 1 bunchparsleyfinely chopped, sprinkled over
• saltto taste
• black pepperfreshly ground
• 10½ ozsmoked paprika sausagesliced, added at the end (optional)
• 14⅛ ozMushroomscleaned, larger ones roughly halved (optional)
• 7 ozsour creamwhisked with flour to thicken, or as a dollop (optional)
• 1 tspmarjoramdried (optional)
• 1 pinchcaraway (optional)

Method

1. Finely chop the onions and garlic, peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters or eighths, seed the bell peppers and slice them into strips, dice the tomatoes and cut the carrots into sticks or chunks.
2. Pat the beef slices dry, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then dredge them in flour.
3. Heat the lard in a wide braising pot and sear the slices hard on both sides until well coloured, then lift them out and set aside.
4. In the fat left in the pot, fry the onions until golden, add the garlic and carrots and let them sweat briefly.
5. Pull the pot off the heat and stir in the sweet paprika and tomato paste — the paprika must not brown or it turns bitter.
6. Deglaze with the wine and let it reduce, pour in the hot beef stock, add the bay leaf and season to taste; add marjoram and a pinch of caraway if you like.
7. Return the meat along with any juices to the pot, add the potatoes, pepper strips and tomatoes, and pour in enough stock to half-cover everything.
8. Cover and braise over gentle heat for about an hour, until the meat and potatoes are tender; stir now and then and top up with stock as needed.
9. Reduce the sauce uncovered, or thicken it with flour whisked into sour cream, and taste once more. Remove the bay leaf. Arrange the meat with the vegetables and sauce, scatter over chopped parsley and serve hot.

Tips and variations

The classic version sticks with potatoes in the pot and slices of smoked Debrecziner sausage laid on at the very end. Leave out the potatoes and you can braise root vegetables instead — carrot, parsley root, celeriac — with the sauce thickened with sour cream and sharpened with vinegar and hot mustard. Button mushrooms work in place of the peppers and tomatoes, in which case braise only briefly. In the oven the dish needs 1.5 to 2 hours; it does just as well in a slow cooker or pressure cooker, with a splash of dark soy sauce. If you cut the meat into cubes after searing, you can braise it with red wine, sweet and hot paprika and a little brown sugar for a good three hours and serve it with egg noodles and a dollop of sour cream. Beef rouladen, cut into pieces, can stand in for the sirloin.