Sunday: horseradish risotto with beef strips

Horseradish risotto was something I had and really enjoyed at St. Georg (though I was skeptical when I saw it on the menu). This was the first try at making it myself. I looked around for a bit and found a recipe that sounded reasonable in the Le Menu archive and started from there. It's simple: make a standard risotto (vegetables: onion, garlic, brunoise carrots; white wine; a bit of veggie bouillon; water) and, just before serving, stir in cream, grated horseradish to taste, and salt to taste.

The Le Menu suggestion for an accompaniment is strips of boiled siedfleisch that are browned quickly just before serving. That sounded good, but I wanted a bit more so I did something a bit random: I made a "tea" by simmering some gluehwein spices (orange peel, rose hips, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, vanilla) in a mixture of white wine and water. After about 15 minutes of simmering, I strained this and used it as part of the simmering liquid for the beef. To the tea I added some carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf, clove, salt, and enough water to cover the piece of beef. This simmered gently for two hours, until the beef was clearly cooked through but not fork tender, and then I turned off the heat and let the beef cool in the stock overnight. For serving, I sliced the beef, cut the slices into strips, and then sauteed them very briefly in rapeseed oil with a pinch of salt. Just enough to give them a bit of color and heat them through.

I served the beef next to the risotto with a pile of watercress to the side.

Really, really nice food.