Beef Roast with Pears and Prunes Sauce

Ingredients

• 800 g beef roast (e.g., shoulder)
• 2 onions
• 150 g celery root
• 150 ml wine vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 3 Juniper berries
• 3 peppercorns
• Salt
• ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp clarified butter
• 0.25 l meat broth
• 4 pears
• 250 g prunes
• 3 tbsp red wine
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• a pinch of sugar
• parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash the beef, pat dry and place in a large bowl. Peel and dice the onions and celery root. Bring vinegar with 0.5 l water, onion, celery, and spices to a boil, let cool, then pour over the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning the meat occasionally.

2. 2.

   Remove the beef from the brine, pat dry, season with salt and pepper, and sear all sides in hot clarified butter until browned. Add the drained onion and celery from the brine. Baste the roast with 1/4 l of the brine and 1/8 l broth, then simmer gently over low heat for about 1.5–2 hours, adding more broth as needed. Peel, halve, pit, and slice the pears; wash, halve, and pit the prunes. Add both fruits to the roast in the last ten minutes of cooking to steam together. Remove the meat and fruit. Pour in the red wine, strain through a sieve, reduce slightly if desired, then thicken with cornstarch dissolved in cold water. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and sugar.

3. 3.

   Slice the beef and serve it with the pear-prune sauce and accompanying fruits.