Beef with Harvest Sauce (attempt #2) - A Transylvanian Cookbook

Today, using the roast from yesterday's post, I attempted the Harvest Sauce again.  It is from this book,

The Prince of Transylvania’s court cookbook 

From the 16th century 

THE SCIENCE OF COOKING

You can find a copy of THE THIRD VERSION  here:  http://www.fibergeek.com/leathernotebook/files/2018/05/Transylvanian-Cookbook-v3.pdf
(this is an update from yesterday's post).

My first attempt, though tasty, was declared a failure because it never thickened.  You can read about here.

Original recipe (page 3), listed as recipe (2):


BEEF WITH HARVEST SAUCE

 If you want to cook with a harvest sauce, prepare the meat like I told you. Put parsley roots, (parsley) leaves and onions into it. After it’s cooked, add six or seven eggs, according to your needs. After you’re done, put the eggs into vinegar and start whipping it. Then pour the meat’s juices into it. Pour it onto the meat again, but don’t boil it; if you boil it, its size will suffer.

(Footnote on "suffer":  Meaning; It will curdle. Tempering the egg/vinegar and broth mixtures will result in a creamy sauce. Note that this sauce is used several times in the cookbook.)


My second redaction notes:

This time around, I have yellow onion AND I was able to get a small parsnip, which was recommended to use in place of the parsley root.  I expect this to be a more authentic taste, although my sad little parsley plant didn't have enough leaves to provide fresh parsley for this attempt.  I had to make do with dried parsley leaves.

Bits of parsnips

For the sauce

1 tablespoon peeled, finely chopped parsnip

1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped a little less finely than the parsnip

1 tablespoon dried parsley

butter

3 eggs

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/8 cup (or less) of beef juice (see note below)

The parsnip is already peeled

First I sauteed the onion, parsnip, and parsley in a little butter.  I cooked it gently, until the onion was translucent.  The smell was aromatic!  Then I set this mixture aside in a bowl for later use.

Cooked gently so as not to burn the dried leaves

Using the same pan, I put in a little water -- at most a few tablespoons -- and the slices of cold roast beef.  Heating the meat gently in this gave me warm beef and also flavored the water with the juices.  It was this liquid, warmed to steaming, that I called "beef juice."  

Cold roast beef slices getting warmed

While the beef was warming, I put the eggs into a bowl and whisked them vigorously, until the lumps and blobs were gone.  Then I added the white wine vinegar and whisked it thoroughly again.  

After the beef was removed to plates, I poured the beef juice into the egg mixture and whisked it vigorously again to temper the eggs.  Then I poured the whole mixture into the warm pan and began to cook it.  I whisked it the entire time, never letting it stop moving.  I found that I had to bump the heat up to about medium to get the sauce to thicken, but once it started, it thickened quickly!  I turned the heat off and let the sauce finish cooking from the residual heat of the pan.  Then I added the onion/parsnip mixture and stirred it in.

Getting thick!  Keep it moving!

The Verdict

The sauce was thick and creamy!  I spooned it over the beef and served it with a salad of nectarines and sorrel/spinach/lettuce, with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  (See the last line, below.)

Really, there is a lot of meat under that mountain of sauce!

The flavor?  Oh, the flavor!  It was excellent!  Hard to describe, really, but I will give it a try.  

No one flavor stood out.  I got hints of earthy tones, a little tingle of tart, a bit of a meaty flavor, and a richness (but not too rich).  It was somewhat like a Bearnaise sauce.  The mouthfeel was perfect because it was thick yet not clingy.  My guest taster said, "You can make this again, anytime!" and I agreed.  It is easy to make and it is very tasty.  It certainly brought out the flavor of the beef while complementing it, too.  An excellent pairing! 

Success!  The quantity was just right, too, as we ate every bit of the sauce. 

Credit where it is due:  Thanks to White on Rice Couple for their peach and sorrel salad recipe.  I used nectarines and a sorrel-and-salad-greens mix.  I loved the dressing!  You can find the recipe here.

Beef with Harvest Sauce (attempt #1) -- A Transylvanian Cookbook

The fun thing about knowing other historical cooks is that they find interesting recipes, teach you new techniques, give you intriguing challenges.  One in particular got me interested in this newly translated book:

The Prince of Transylvania’s court cookbook 

From the 16th century 

THE SCIENCE OF COOKING

You can find a copy of it here:  http://www.medievalcookery.com/etexts/transylvania-v2.pdf

I talked about it in my post on the 2018 Culinary Symposium -- he (G) told us stories about the book and had a recipe made up for us to taste.

I promised that I would give some of the recipes a try and put them in my blog, so here is my first attempt.

Original recipe (page 3):


BEEF WITH HARVEST SAUCE.

If you want to cook with a harvest sauce, prepare the meat like I told you. Put parsley roots, (parsley) leaves and onions into it. After it’s cooked, add six or seven eggs, according to your needs. After you’re done, put the eggs into vinegar and start whipping it. Then pour the meat’s juices into it. Pour it onto the meat again, but don’t boil it; if you boil it, its size will suffer.

(Footnote on "suffer":  Meaning; It will curdle. Tempering the egg/vinegar and broth mixtures will result in a creamy sauce. Note that this sauce is used several times in the cookbook.)


My first redaction notes:

The first issue I had was getting parsley root.  My parsley plant was suffering from the heat and from critter raids, so its roots were really not worth the effort.  It did have enough leaves for me to use.  I checked with G to see what he has used.  He had tried it with parsley root but found there was no taste difference when using small, peeled parsnips.  I couldn't get any parsnips, so I chose to go ahead without either one.

Fresh parsley!

To my shock, the only onion I had was part of a purple onion.  No brown/yellow onion at all in my stash!  So I chose to use that.  I chopped it and sauteed it in butter until tender and a little browned.

Yum!  Onions!

My big conundrum was about the quantities of broth, eggs, and vinegar.  How much?  G had recommended white wine vinegar and the recipe says "six or seven eggs, according to your needs."  My needs were small -- I had a two pound beef roast to cook and I just didn't think I needed a lot of sauce.  I know my sauce was to come out thick, "silky," and creamy but I just wasn't sure.  So I took the attitude of any good redacting cook:  I picked some amounts, tried it, and hoped for the best.

For the roast:  

2 pound beef sirloin tip roast, which I sprinkled with seasoned salt.  I cooked it using the rotisserie burner on my propane grill until it registered an internal temperature of "rare."  It didn't drip much into the pan below but it did release juices when I sliced it.  I used the water in the drip pan as well as the juices in the sauce. After I saw how little juice there was, I decided to add some bouillon, too.

Getting ready to roast

Roasted to rare!

For the sauce:

1/3 cup chopped purple onion, sauteed in butter
1 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
3 eggs
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water + juice from roasting and slicing the beef
1 small spoonful of beef bouillon into the heated water + juice mixture

And the beef bouillon

To make the sauce:

The eggs were put into a bowl and whisked vigorously until I couldn't see any blobs of whites or yolk.  I wanted it to be as smooth as I could make it.  Then I put in the vinegar and whisked it some more until it was bubbly and smooth.

No lumps!  No blobs!

In the meantime, I heated the water and bouillon mixture in the same pan I cooked the onions in.  Then, to temper the egg mixture, I put several spoonfuls of the beef broth into it and whisked vigorously.  I poured that into the pan and whisked vigorously, while the whole mixture was over very low heat.

After it looked a little thicker, I added the parsley and onion.  It simmered for several minutes.  I noticed that if I stopped stirring it, it started to curdle -- that is, it looked like the eggs were getting scrambled!  But if I whisked it, the bits broke up and the sauce was reasonably smooth again.

Pretty colors!

Once I was convinced it wasn't going to get any thicker, I took it off the heat and put it into a serving container.

The Verdict

At the table, I spooned the sauce over the meat and tasted it.  The sauce was obviously too thin but the flavor was good!  A little salty, a little meaty, the parsley was a pleasant herbal undertaste, and the onion added a little zing.  I like it!  It paired well with the beef and we were all pleased to have it on our plates.  It was pretty, too:  the cream-colored sauce with flecks of green and chunks of purple contrasted nicely with the rare roasted beef.

Very rare and visually attractive

For my second attempt, I think I will use just a little beef flavoring (juices or broth) instead of the 1/2 cup of liquid I used this time.  I would like to taste more of the white wine vinegar, too, just like I tend to add a little extra lemon juice whenever I make hollandaise sauce.  I know, too, to keep the sauce moving when it is over the heat.

The first redaction made about 1 cup of sauce.  I think about half that quantity would have been right.

I have to classify this as a failure since my sauce did not turn out the way it was described to me.  But I will try it again and attempt to do better.  See tomorrow's post for Attempt #2.

UPDATE

I took the leftover sauce from this attempt and cooked it again, over a higher heat.  I stirred it continuously.  It thickened!  The flavor wasn't as exciting but it was still good.  Here is the result:

Thick enough to pile up

Fish in a Fur Coat

After reading the Google translation of this recipe's title, I laughed, and so I knew I had to try it for my blog!

The original website is in Russian, and I just happened across it one day.  Even though I can't say it is historical, I thought it would be good foodie fun.

Original recipe, in Russian:  https://bonappeti.boltai.com/topics/zapechennaya-ryba-v-shube/

Google translation:

Baked fish in a fur coat

500 g lean fish fillets (pollock, cod, pink salmon) 
5 eggs
1/4 cup of crushed walnuts
3 tsp. lemon juice
salt, pepper, greens to taste.  

Missing the parsley

1. Cut the fish fillets into slices of 5-7 cm, sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and pepper, leave to marinate for 10-30 minutes. 

2. Choose a shape with high sides, lightly oiled with olive oil. 

3. Put the fish in it and put in the oven for 10 minutes. 

4. Whisk the eggs until the foam is formed, salt and pepper, if desired, add ground nuts and greens. With the mixture obtained, pour over the fish.

5. Put the baking tray in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the omelet is baked until golden brown. During baking, an omelet can go up. In this case, you need to pierce it with a fork or knife.

My Notes

The recipe specifies "greens" and I chose dried parsley as my flavoring herb.

I preheated the oven to 325 degrees F, which seemed gentle enough for both eggs and fish.

I used a 9 inch diameter pie pan for my baking dish.  It also makes a good serving dish.

Salmon marinating in lemon juice, salt, and pepper

The fish marinated for 10 minutes.  I used less than 1/8 tsp of both salt and pepper.  Basically, I lightly sprinkled them over the fish.

After cooking 10 minutes

I did not salt or pepper the egg mixture.  The parsley amount was several good, hard shakes from the bottle.  The walnuts were chopped to a medium texture.

Whipping the egg mixture until foamy is important!

See the bubbles and the nuts?

It took 23 minutes to get the top golden brown.

The Verdict

Hot out of the oven!

The top was intriguing!  The walnuts were on top, poking through the egg coat, and the bubbles from the foam had set, and I think that is why the fish had a fur coat.  Fun to look at!

Top and inside views

The taste: The salmon flavor came through and the walnuts and parsley were a nice background enhancement, adding a depth of flavor.  The walnuts, in particular, added a pleasant, slightly bitter taste as well as a light crunch.  The eggs pulled all the flavors together.  I liked it and my guest taster, who adores salmon, said it was very good and would gladly have it again.

I felt that the eggs were slightly overcooked.  To correct this next time, I would try baking it at 350 degrees F for a shorter time.

Very nice!

Success!  I served it with sliced tomatoes that had been dressed with a few pieces of thinly sliced onion, ground pepper, and some balsamic vinegar, then chilled.  That was a good accompaniment.  We both think the Fish in a Fur Coat would be even better with a dollop of sour cream on top, or perhaps even some avocado on top or on the side.  I'll try that with the leftovers.

UPDATE:  Sour cream and avocados on the side are very good with the leftovers!