Czech Republic

Svickova and Dumplings


I had high expectations for this one, but was quite disappointed in the results.  As I told Andy as he walked into the kitchen to eat, the meat was overcooked, the dumplings turned to mush and the sauce ended up lumpy.  The meal looked like milk steak from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  In terms of taste, well, I would describe it as not bad.  


Here are the mistakes I know and/or am thinking I made in the completion of this dish:
-The recipe called for a 3 lb. sirloin roast.  I couldn't find one that big, so I bought two 1.5 lb. ones.  I neglected to adjust the cooking time, so it was overdone and dry.
-I think the sour cream sauce may have had better results had I not used light sour cream and if I had allowed it to come to a simmer.
-I used 2 1/2 minute Cream of Wheat.  I'm wondering, had I used the longer cooking stuff, if the dumplings would have stayed in pieces.


It seemed wasteful to discard the vegetables, especially because they seemed to carry more of the flavor than the meat.  At any rate, here's the recipe.


Svickova

INGREDIENTS
-3 lbs. sirloin roast
-2 c. water
-1 c. vinegar
-2 carrots, chopped
-2 ribs celery, chopped
-2 parsnips, chopped
-5 pieces allspice
-6 peppercorns
-2 bay leaves
-4 T. flour
-16 oz. sour cream
-1 c. beef broth
-1/2 tsp. thyme


DIRECTIONS
1) Combine water, vinegar, vegetables, allspice, peppercorns and bay leaves in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
2) Cool to room temperature.  Pour over roast in a baking dish and cover.  Marinate 24-48 hours, flipping roast every 12 hours.
3) Season meat with salt, pepper and thyme.  Keeping roast in marinade and vegetables, roast for 1 hour, 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
4) Remove roast from oven and place on cutting board.  Reserve juices, discard vegetables.

5) Combine flour and sour cream in a sauté pan over low heat.  Slowly add marinade and beef broth to heated sour cream mixture.  Stir over low heat for 7 minutes.
6) Serve sauce over thinly sliced beef.
7) Serve over dumplings.


Dumplings


INGREDIENTS
-6 potatoes, peeled
-1 egg
-1 1/2 tsp. salt
-1/4 c. farina (Cream of Wheat)
-1/4 c. flour


DIRECTIONS:
1) Boil potatoes until fork tender.  Let cool.
2) Rice potatoes.
3) Work beaten egg, farina, flour and salt into potatoes, forming a dough.

4) Roll dough into a tube and cut into slices.

5) Place dumplings into a pot of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.

How the dumplings turned out...