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.