Bayrisch Böfflamott

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Larding needle or thin boning knife
• •Glass or ceramic marinating dish
• •Heavy lidded braiser or Dutch oven
• •Fine sieve
• •Kitchen string

Instructions

1. 1

   Lard the beef

   Cut the Speck into long strips and push them through the beef with a larding needle, or make narrow cuts with a thin knife and feed the strips through. The bacon belongs inside before the marinade starts, because the fat seasons the lean beef from within while the wine and vinegar work from outside. Tie the roast with kitchen string so it keeps its shape in the pot.

   Use a working cut, not fillet. Shoulder, rump, or topside has enough structure for a long braise; a tender cut is expensive and wrong here.
2. 2

   Cook the marinade

   Put the wine, vinegar, onions, carrots, celeriac, leek, bay, juniper, peppercorns, cloves, and mustard seeds in a pot and bring it just to a boil. Simmer five minutes, then take it off the heat and let it cool completely. Cool means cold to the touch. Warm marinade tightens the meat at the surface, and then the center never takes the flavour properly.

3. 3

   Marinate two days

   Lay the larded beef in a glass or ceramic dish, pour the cold marinade over it, cover it, and refrigerate for 48 hours, turning the meat morning and evening. The acid needs time to move through the cut, and the turning keeps one side from becoming sharp while the other stays plain. Das braucht seine Zeit.

   Do not use aluminium for the marinade. Wine and vinegar pull a metallic taste from it, and then the sauce tells on you.
4. 4

   Sear it dry

   Lift the beef from the marinade and pat it very dry. Strain the marinade and keep both the liquid and the vegetables. Heat the lard in a heavy braiser and brown the beef on all sides until the surface is dark and crusted; dry meat browns, wet meat stews grey. Take the beef out and keep it nearby.

5. 5

   Brown the roots

   Add the drained marinade vegetables to the same pot and cook them until the edges colour. Stir in the tomato paste and let it darken for a minute, because raw tomato paste tastes tinny and browned tomato paste gives the sauce backbone. Sprinkle in the sugar and let it catch lightly, only enough to round the vinegar.

6. 6

   Braise slowly

   Return the beef to the pot, pour in the strained marinade and enough beef stock to come halfway up the meat, then bring it to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and braise at 150C for about 3 hours, turning the roast once halfway through. Runter mit der Temperatur: a hard boil squeezes the meat dry, while a low braise lets the collagen soften into the sauce.

7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   Lift the beef out, tent it loosely, and let it rest 20 minutes so the juices settle before slicing. Strain the braising liquid, pressing the vegetables well because Weggeworfen wird nichts, then reduce the sauce until it coats a spoon. Whisk in the cold butter off the boil for gloss, then season with salt and pepper at the end. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss.

8. 8

   Slice and serve

   Cut the roast across the grain into thick slices, spoon the dark wine sauce over, and serve with Semmelknödel or Kartoffelknödel and ruby Blaukraut. The dumpling is not decoration. It is there to catch the sauce, which is why you made the sauce properly. Nicht aus dem Glas.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for beef shoulder, rump, or topside in one clean piece. A cheap working cut is the point: acid, bacon, and time make it tender, not a fancy steak.
• •Use smoked Speck if you can get it, cut in firm strips. Soft bacon smears when you try to lard; chill it first and it slides through cleanly.
• •Make stock from roasted beef bones if you have them. Weggeworfen wird nichts. Bones give the sauce body that a cube cannot fake.
• •Serve with Blaukraut made with apple and vinegar. The acid keeps the cabbage ruby, and the colour matters against the dark roast.
• •If the sauce tastes flat, reduce it before adding more salt. If it tastes too sharp, a small pinch of sugar fixes the wine-vinegar edge without turning it sweet.

Advance Preparation

• •Lard and marinate the beef 48 hours before cooking. This is the make-ahead work, and it is not dead time; it is where the roast becomes Böfflamott.
• •The cooked roast can be made a day ahead. Chill it in the strained sauce, then slice it cold and warm the slices gently in the sauce so they stay neat and tender.
• •Leftover sauce keeps three days in the refrigerator and freezes well. Spoon it over dumplings or buttered noodles the next day. Nothing gets thrown away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)