Münchner Tellerfleisch

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy stockpot, 6 litres or larger
• •Fine sieve
• •Sharp carving knife
• •Box grater or fine rasp for horseradish

Instructions

1. 1

   Char the onions

   Put the onion halves cut side down in a dry heavy pan until the faces are dark brown, almost black at the edges. That colour is not dirt; it gives the broth a warm gold tone and a quiet sweetness without roasted heaviness.

2. 2

   Start the broth

   Put the beef bones in a large pot with the cold water and bring it up slowly. Cold water draws flavour from the bones as it warms, and a hard start seals nothing useful in. Skim the grey foam as it rises, because if it boils back into the pot the broth turns cloudy.

   Use a wide pot if you have one. The meat should sit under the liquid without being wedged in, because crowded meat cooks unevenly and gives you tight edges.
3. 3

   Add the beef

   Lower in the Tafelspitz, fat side up, then add the charred onions, bay, peppercorns, juniper, and the teaspoon of salt. Bring the liquid back only to a tremble, then reduce the heat. Runter mit der Temperatur. A rolling boil makes cloudy broth and squeezes the beef dry before the connective tissue has softened.

4. 4

   Simmer slowly

   Cook gently for about 2 hours, uncovered or partly covered, with only small bubbles breaking at the edge. Turn the meat once if the top sits above the liquid. It is ready for the vegetables when a skewer goes in with resistance but no fight; the last stretch will finish it without shredding it.

5. 5

   Add vegetables

   Cut the carrots, leek, celeriac, and parsley root into large pieces and add them for the final 35 to 45 minutes. They go in late because roots cooked for three hours taste spent and look tired. You want them tender, still their own colour, and useful on the plate.

6. 6

   Cook potatoes

   While the beef finishes, boil the waxy potatoes in salted water until a knife slides through cleanly. Waxy potatoes hold their shape in the broth; floury potatoes are for dumplings and mash, not for sitting in a bowl of Tellerfleisch.

7. 7

   Rest and strain

   Lift the beef onto a board and cover it loosely for 10 minutes, because meat sliced straight from the pot leaks its juices onto the board instead of staying in the slice. Strain the broth, save the vegetables, and taste the liquid hard. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss: only now do you correct the salt, because reduction and bones have already done part of the work.

8. 8

   Slice and serve

   Slice the beef across the grain into thick, neat pieces, trimming only what you must. Set meat, potatoes, and vegetables in warm shallow bowls, ladle over the clear broth, and finish with chives, black pepper, and fresh grated horseradish. Grate the Kren at the table if you can; its sharpness fades quickly once it meets air and heat. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for Tafelspitz, the triangular rump cap, with the fat cap left on. The fat protects the meat in the long simmer and gives the broth body; trimming it bare before cooking is false tidiness.
• •Keep the pot below a boil. If the broth starts jumping, move it half off the burner for a minute. Clear broth is made by restraint, not by fussing.
• •Grate horseradish fresh. Jarred horseradish has its place on a cold plate when nothing else is possible, but here it tastes flat against a broth you spent three hours making.
• •Serve the broth first as a small soup if you want the Sunday version. Add a few chives and thin carrot slices, then bring the sliced beef out after. Weggeworfen wird nichts.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook the beef and broth one day ahead if you like. Chill the meat in a little strained broth so it stays moist, then slice it cold and rewarm the slices gently in hot broth.
• •The broth keeps 3 days in the refrigerator and freezes well. Lift off any solid fat after chilling, but save a spoonful if the broth tastes thin; fat carries flavour, and the old kitchens knew that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)