Tenderloin on Cream (Sviečková na Smotane)
Ingredients: about 2lb cut of beef (sirloin, tenderloin or eye round), bacon, 4 carrots, 1 parsley root, 1 onion, 1 stalk of celery, lemon, few caraway seeds, 1 bay leaf, 6 peppercorns, whipping cream, knedľa
Prep Time: The way I did, 3 days. Some 3 hours otherwise.
You may have noticed that there are not too many meaty dishes on this site. This is not because Slovaks don’t eat meat. On the contrary, meaty foods are actually quite popular. The reason is instead different. It is I who is not a big meat eater. And because of this, I don’t actually know much about cooking meat.
I figured it was time to change that. So I decided to learn how to make a really popular Slovak dish called sviečková na smotane, meaning tenderloin on cream. This is one dish you definitely must try on your travels to Slovakia. It is offered in just about every restaurant. Sviečková is also the single most complicated dish I have prepared to date. OK, perhaps complicated is not the right word. The most involved. Turns out, making this dish is actually pretty simple, but it requires quite a few steps.
In preparing this dinner, I followed a recipe from minibazar.sk, a strange combination of craigslist and a cooking site. But I love the recipes on minibazar. They are always completely authentic (submitted by regular people) and many have pictures – which I clearly find very useful in cooking. This particular recipe called for marinading the meat over the course of few days. Another recipe, one in the classic Czechoslovak Cookbook, tells instead to bake the meat while basting for some hour and a half in a 325F oven. Whatever you choose, this dish will not disappoint.
Instead of tenderloin (or sirloin), I used eye round, since that’s what my supermarket had already packed up in a large enough quantity. Eye round is somewhat dryer than tenderloin, but since I marinated it, I figured it won’t matter much. Having said that, let’s start cooking!
The left photo shows many, but not all, of the ingredients you’ll need. The beer is not an ingredient, but I like to have a glass of a cold one while cooking. You should use a parsley root (petržlen) but those are pretty much impossible to find in America. So I used a parsnip instead. I figured that although it is not the same vegetable, it at least looks very much alike. Peel and cut the root vegetables. Also cut the celery (zeler) but keep the onion (cibuľa) whole. Cook, along with black pepper (čierne korenie), caraway (rasca), bay leaf (bobkový list) and a slice of lemon (koliesko citrónu), in 2 cups of water. Cook for about 2 minutes after the water comes to boil.
While the vegetable “soup” is cooling down, take the cut of meat (mäso) and rinse it off. Dry it off with paper towels and then use a sharp knife to cut slits in it all around. Place about inch wide cuts of bacon (slanina) into the slots. Really shove them in there. Doing this reminded me of my friend Patricia’s visit to Slovakia in 2010. She is a vegetarian and commented that in Slovakia all vegetable dishes seem to have bacon in them. Turns out, in Slovakia even meat has bacon!
Place the meat in the vegetable mixture after it has cooled off completely. Add more water if needed so that at least half of the meat is underwater. Cover and place in the fridge at least overnight. Turn the meat periodically to get it marinated from both sides.
2 days later…
Take the marinated meat out and dry it off. This next step is pretty tricky so be careful. Heat up oil (olej) in a large pot (I used the same that had the vegetables in it, which I transferred to a different pot). Then lightly brown the meat on all sides. The tricky part is placing the meat in the oil and then flipping it. I used a large fork to pick it up and a knife to support it from the bottom. Chop up the onion (cibuľa) and fry in the oil until it starts turning yellow. Then add the rest of the vegetables and about a cup of the marinade water.
Also, start working on the knedľa.
Cover and let steam for about hour and a half. Add more water as needed. You are done when the meat feels soft. Take the meat out and slice it. It will have this beautiful dark purple color on the inside. This was the first time I have ever prepared such a large hunk of meat and I was really pleased with the outcome!
The next step involves liquefying the veggies. This would have been so much easier if had a hand-held mixer like the one shown in the original recipe. But since I didn’t, I used the traditional method – a metal strainer. This worked, but boy, next time I am getting a blender! Make sure to scrape off the mushed up veggies from the bottom.
Use heavy whipping cream (smotana) to make the sauce (omáčka). I used about equal amounts of water and cream, and kept adding until I got something of fairly creamy consistency. Add salt and little bit of lemon, to taste. Cook for a minute or two and then add the meat to heat it up.
This dish is traditionally served with a side of whole-berry cranberry (brusnice) sauce, whipped cream (slahačka) and a slice of cooked lemon (citrón). To make the whipped cream, simply take the unused cream from making the sauce and beat it until it turns solid. This was the first time I had whipped cream like this. It’s so much better than the spray kind. Serve with knedľa. Enjoy and dobrú chuť! That husk figurine in the picture on right is typical of traditional Slovak folk art. I wanted to put something Slovak in the picture, but the only thing I could find was this figurine from a larger advent set.
If you compare my sauce to the one served in Slovak restaurants (for instance, as shown here) you will see mine is much “chunkier”. I guess this is that home-made, metal strainer, touch.
For other great meaty Slovak dishes, check out Segedin goulash, chicken baked on salt and stuffed peppers.
Don’t forget to leave a comment. Have you had this dish? Do you cook it at home? If yes, how is your recipe different from this one?
sorry…commented on the parsnips, when you used them oops…petrzlen translated is parsley, can’t that be used?
Hi Maria,
parsnip je petrzlen – koren a parsley je petrzlenova vnat; so for this dish you need parsnip
Hi folks, it looks like this confusion about parsley roots (petrzlen) and parsnip continues all around the cooking world.
Parsnip and parsley roots are NOT the same but easily confused.
They look similar but even in appearance there is a difference. Parsley root is thinner and longer, parsnip has a thicker and shorter root. Difference in taste? Parsnip is sweeter with buttery consistence after it’s boiled, parsley root is more bitter. For many recipes and folks it makes not much difference and a substitution is OK.
Yes, it’s difficult to find parsley roots in the US though parsnip is readily available. Just my 2 cents worth 🙂
Parsnip has nothing to do with parsley root. Parsnip is a white carrot, it is sweet; totally different taste. Parsley root is the bottom part of the Italian flat parsley and is easily available, at least here in Ottawa.
parsley root is actually parsnip…so you’re using the right thing! Sorry about the confusion!!!
Love your website! Was a little surprised that you can’t find “parsley root”…in canada they are called parsnips and are readily available, usually bagged beside carrots.
Maria, actually they are not. They look very similar, but parsnip is a different vegetable from parsley. From wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsnip
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley_root
It’s been so long I had parsley root that I can’t really judge how close or different the taste is. But it tasted well in the sauce.
And thank you for you comments!
I prepare marinade same way, only I add 2 tbs vinegar (ocot) with water, slice of lemon I add when I’m cooking the meat. When I make small slits in meat for bacon, I add garlic (cesnak)too. When You run vegetable through blender , add 1 tbs mustard. Sour cream (kysla smotana) can be used too instead of cream,
Lubos,
Always enjoy your new stuff.
You need to move to the Midwest U.S. We find every cut of meat imaginable. Many Slovak, Polish and Ukrainian butchers who make every imaginable kind of sausage. Also every vegetable. Parsley root is in every supermarket here. Quite distinct from parsnip.
Curt B.
In this case it maybe shows that I was born Czech, my parents were Czech (though I lived most of my life in the old country in Slovakia)
Svičková is one of the prime recipes in Czech cousine.
This is how I know it and make it.
For marinating, in addition what you have I add a 1/2 of celery root (yes you can get it in the US) I don’t use a black pepper nor caraway seeds, I use some all spice and thyme. Instead of water I use a red vine viniger and add some olive oil.
I don’t boil the marinade, I add some water if needed to cover the meat (it depends on a size of container you use for marinating.)
I marinate one day.
I use a fresh black pepper and salt to season tenderloin before I sear it, do the same stuff, spiking the beef with bacon (making cuts and shawing bacon in)
After searing the tenderloin (DO NOT OVERDO a searing!)
I use the same pan for searing and roasting, though I take the meat out put in some water to boil and deglaze the pan. Then I put the meat and all veggies back, smear a couple of butter on the tenderloin, and in the oven it goes about 350 degrees for about 1 and 1/2 hour.
After it’s done, I cut a temperature of the oven to some 100 degrees, put the tenderloin on an aluminum foil and put it back into oven to keep it warm.
I puree a vegetable (my mom used the old method of strainer and wooden spoon)
I put the puree veggies into the same pan I did everything, boil it. season with salt an pepper (to your liking) add a lemon juice and sugar (again to adjust the taste to your liking), add some water if it’s too thick, and at the end I add a sour cream (don’t boil it, just keep mixing it in with that manual wire beater.)
It has to be served with “knedla”. Try to use a lingonberries instead of cranberries. Not the original recipe but it adds additional flavor. I buy them at IKEA (as they are Swedish berries)
This is closer to our recipe, except with marinading. I’m going to try this version next time. Great tip on the swedish berries.
Nice job. I don’t make enough meat dishes either so I will try this one. Did you make the knedle too? I didn’t see the recipe when I searched your site. I have a recipe but I’m afraid to try. I need to be inspired by your work first 😉
Yup, here is the recipe: http://www.slovakcooking.com/2009/recipes/steamed-dumpling-parena-knedla/
Unfortunately, the search feature on this site doesn’t work too well. The default WordPress algorithm is terrible – it returns everything but what you are looking for…
Knedla is actually pretty easy to make. I have tried both methods, direct steaming and cooking it, and it came out similarly well both times. Good luck!
You need to use parsnip in this dish, not parsley. The parsnip gives it a nice sweetness.
We also do not brown the meat, my mom used to make this all the time and she never browned it either.
For a lot of Slovak dishes/goulashes, a pressure cooker is a must, especially for cheaper cuts of meat as it reduces cooking time greatly and tenderizes even the toughest cuts of meat.
I have a question for anyone who might know though. My mom used to make a dish, I believe it was pork, with red cabbage that was a bit tart. I can’t remember for the life of me what it was called, or what exactly was in it, but it was sooooooo good! If anyone knows what I’m talking about, please get back to me, I’d love to learn how to make this dish (my mom passed away, can’t ask her).
Hi Janet, thanks for your tips. I don’t think that parsnips are used in Slovakia. At least I have never seen them there. What we use is parsley root, which unfortunately, is pretty much impossible to find in the States.
You may have noticed that I am all about the traditional way of cooking. My grandma can make the most amazing food using nothing but few pots (which probably haven’t been scrubbed clean in weeks) and a wood burning stove. Although things like pressure cookers do come in handy in our busy lives, I strongly believe that we are losing this basic touch by relying on all these appliances and gadgets. If it was up to me, I would totally move to some cottage in the woods and grow my own veggies, and make own cheese, butter and sausages. Call me old fashioned 🙂
Bravco-vepro-zelo
knedlo, vepro, zelo (this is right)
We make svieckova at home. It’s quite a process, but I never marinaded the meat before hand. I will do for sure next time. We actually roast the parsnips, carrot, meat and onion in a dutch oven before liquefying it. You have to remove the meat of course, liquefy it, then add cream and a little beef stock. It’s devilishly good.
It is little different taste also.
Parsnip is pastrnak and parsley is petrzlen and same for roots or green parts.Lubos is right!In Slovakia is used parsley.I remember that!
I tried this recipe almost verbatim today because I didn’t have the one my mom used. Skipped the overnight marinading part. Parsley root is available sometimes in the Northern Virginia grocery stores. I bought mine at Harris Teeter but also saw it at Wegmans. The cream sauce came out OK a bit plain. Next time I will use celeriac (celery root) instead of celery stalks. I think celeriac has a stronger flavor and makes the root veggie cream sauce more tasty. Adding little bit of curry powder shouldn’t hurt either.
I use almost the same recipe as Miro except that I also use celer gula. The root of celery. I grate all my veggies and cover the meat with them and put the spices (novy korene, whole pepper and bay leaves)in little piles on top.
I use Lingonberry rather than cranberries. Cranberries are very expensive in Slovakia and hard to find. I think traditionally, Lingonberry is used instead.
As a side note, sometimes I use this recipe with chicken rather than beef or venison. Served with knedla.
Even though root parsley looks similar to the parsnip, it tastes quite different. Parsnips are among the closest relatives of parsley in the family Apiaceae, but the similarity of the names is a coincidence, parsnip meaning “forked turnip”; it is not closely related to real turnips.
we use celery root,
and to sauce we always add vinegar, mustard, sugar and brusnicovy (lingonberry) juice or cranberry.
It’s a wonderful dish, but I wouldn’t say it’s slovak!
you may be right, I don’t know the origin, however it was more czech recipe than slovak recipe, however we are neighbors and at one point of time we were “one country” slovaks adjusted, and so did czechs. My parents were Moravians and they picked up the best from both sides 🙂
Svieckova is a Slovak dish, mom used to make it at least once a month on Sundays, I do occassionaly. You do not heave to mix the vegies, I like real once in small tiny pieces, Great recipe I ussualy combine all my and others recipes, my canadian fiance loves this dish, so Na Zdravie or Dobru Chut!
My Slovak grandma made this when I was young. I loved it. May have to try this recipe for myself.
We use parsley root for chicken noodle soup, too. We were always able to buy it in the Western suburbs of Chicago, but there is a large population of Czech and Slovak descent living there. I think that parsnip and celery roots have very different flavors. When I can’t find parsley root, I substitute a bunch of parsley, since it has a similar flavor to its root. Would that be a good solution?
By the way, parsnips and parsley roots are quite different. Someone above said parsnip is sweeter and creamier and that is true. I don’t think my family ever ate the parsley root; just used it for flavor and goodness. Parsnips, on the other hand, are very good. I like to peel and chunk them up, then roast them in the oven with potato and sweet potato chunks, a bit of olive oil, quartered onions, minced garlic. Yum! Not very Slovak, but very delicious!
“Even Meat has Bacon” LOL
Vilo
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Do not add onion! use carrot, partisanship, celery that’s all you need. I use 6 carrots, 1 parsnips ads about 5-6 celery stalks or 1 medium celery root. Bayleaf, 5 black pepper corns and salt to taste, Salt.Add lean meet (sirloin) and cook in pressure cooker for 40 min. remove meat AND BAYLEAF!!!. mix all veggies and add some sour creams and heavy cream (i TBSP each). taste and add more cream, salt and pepper as needed. Sauce should be smooth and slightly sweet (because of carrots, not because of added sugar!!!). if needed you can always add more veggies to sauce to taste stronger.
After cooking I meant to say REMOVE instad of ADD BAYLEAF
Thank you so much for the instapot option. I will definitely be doing it that way! We just made buchty na pare and decided next time it will be knedliky too. Svieckova is my fave,everytime I go back to visit SK I need to have it. ?