Zwiebelrostbraten

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed frying pan or cast iron skillet (28cm)
• •Deep pan or wide pot for frying onions
• •Kitchen thermometer (helpful but not essential)
• •Slotted spoon
• •Wire cooling rack for draining onions

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the steaks

   Take the steaks out of the fridge thirty minutes before you cook. Cold beef in a hot pan doesn't sear, it sweats, and a sweating steak will never develop the dark crust you need. Pat them completely dry with kitchen paper. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Then spread a very thin layer of Dijon mustard over one side of each steak. This isn't about adding a mustard flavor. It's a traditional Austrian trick: the mustard helps the crust form and adds a subtle depth that disappears into the background of the finished dish. You won't taste mustard. You'll taste better beef.

   Ask your butcher for Beiried (sirloin) or Hüferscherzel (rump cap) if you're shopping at an Austrian butcher. Otherwise, a well-marbled rump steak or sirloin works perfectly. The cut should be thick enough to sear without cooking all the way through.
2. 2

   Slice and flour the onions

   Peel the onions and slice them into rings about three to four millimeters thick. Separate the rings with your fingers and let them fall into a wide bowl. Mix the flour and paprika together in another bowl. Toss the onion rings through the seasoned flour in small batches, shaking off the excess. The coating should be light and even, not clumpy. Every ring needs contact with hot oil, and thick clumps of flour will turn soggy instead of crisp.

   Gretel always said the onions are not a garnish, they're half the dish. Don't be timid with the quantity. Four large onions looks like too many before frying. It's exactly right after.
3. 3

   Fry the onion rings

   Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pan or wide pot to about 170°C. If you don't have a thermometer, drop a single onion ring in. It should sizzle immediately and rise to the surface within a few seconds. Fry the floured onion rings in batches, turning them once or twice with a slotted spoon. Each batch takes three to four minutes. You want deep golden brown, not pale blond. Pull them out when the edges just start to darken and drain them on kitchen paper. Season with a pinch of salt while they're still glistening. They'll crisp up further as they cool.

   Don't crowd the pan. If you dump all the onions in at once, the oil temperature drops and you get limp, greasy rings instead of crispy ones. Three or four batches is normal. Patience here pays off on the plate.
4. 4

   Sear the steaks

   Heat the clarified butter in a heavy pan over high heat until it just begins to shimmer. Lay the steaks in mustard-side down. Don't touch them. Let the heat do the work for three minutes until a deep brown crust forms on the bottom. Flip once. Cook another two to three minutes for medium-rare, three to four for medium. The steak should feel like the fleshy part of your palm when you press your thumb and middle finger together. Transfer to a warm plate, tent loosely with foil, and let them rest. Don't skip the rest. The juices need five minutes to redistribute or they'll run all over your cutting board instead of staying in the meat.

5. 5

   Build the gravy

   Keep the same pan on medium heat. All those dark bits stuck to the bottom are pure flavor. Add the tablespoon of butter and let it foam. Stir in the tablespoon of flour and the tomato paste, cooking for about one minute until the raw flour smell disappears and the paste darkens slightly. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Everything stuck down there should dissolve into the liquid. Let the wine reduce by half, then add the beef stock, bay leaf, and marjoram. Simmer for eight to ten minutes until the gravy has body and coats the back of a spoon. Finish with the white wine vinegar. Just a teaspoon. It's not about sourness, it's about lifting the whole sauce so the richness doesn't sit heavy on the tongue. Season with salt and pepper. Strain through a fine sieve if you like, though I rarely bother at home.

   The vinegar is a traditional Austrian touch in brown gravies. It won't make the sauce taste acidic. It sharpens everything, the way a squeeze of lemon focuses a dish without tasting like lemon.
6. 6

   Plate and serve

   Place each rested steak on a warm plate. Spoon the gravy around the beef, not over it. The steak's crust deserves to stay dry and intact. Now pile the crispy fried onions on top. Be generous. The onion pile should be tall enough to look slightly absurd. That's correct. Scatter a little fresh parsley over everything and bring it to the table with roasted potatoes or Bratkartoffeln on the side. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Use clarified butter or lard for searing the steaks, not regular butter. Regular butter burns at the temperature you need for a proper crust. Clarified butter can take the heat and gives you that deep, nutty sear without any black, bitter spots.
• •The fried onions can be kept warm in a low oven (100°C) while you sear the steaks and build the gravy. Spread them on a wire rack so air circulates underneath. If you pile them on a plate, the ones on the bottom go soggy from trapped moisture.
• •Austrians argue about whether the gravy should be made with white wine or red. Gretel always used white, and so do I. White wine keeps the sauce cleaner and brighter. Red can make it muddy if you're not careful. Use whatever dry wine you'd actually drink.
• •If your beef stock comes from a carton, reduce it by a third before using it in the gravy. Commercial stock is thin. Concentrating it first gives you a sauce that actually tastes like something instead of flavored water.

Advance Preparation

• •The onions can be fried up to two hours ahead and kept at room temperature on a wire rack. They'll stay crisp. Re-crisp them for three minutes in a 180°C oven if they've softened.
• •The gravy base can be made a day ahead through the simmering step, then refrigerated. Reheat gently and finish with vinegar just before serving.
• •The steaks must be seared and served fresh. This is not a make-ahead dish for the beef itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 330g)