Catholic Recipe: Rindsbraten St. Magdalena Mit Kartoffelnudeln

Also Called: Beef St. Magdalena; Braised Beef St. Magdalena with Potato Noodles or Potato Dumplings

From "Cooking with the Saints" we have this Austrian recipe, which is named for the popular dry red wine named after St. Mary Magdalen: St. Magdalena from South Tyrol. This is a good example of one of Austria's favorite dishes, braised beef. The recipe below includes potato noodles, but potato dumplings could also be used.

The cookbook calls for dry white wine, but the actual wine is dry red, so we have made that substitution below.

DIRECTIONS

Cut bacon into thin strips and with a larding needle, thread the bacon into the meat. Salt and pepper the meat all over.

Pour the oil in a pan and fry the meat on all sides until nicely brown.

Transfer to a large casserole dish. In the same pan brown the bones; add them to the casserole. In the same pan soften the vegetables for a few minutes and then transfer them to the casserole.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. and put the covered casserole in it for about 20 minutes. Remove casserole from oven, then add the wine, stock, herbs, gherkins, dried mushrooms and tomato paste.

Cover and return to the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Remove the bones and take out meat. Skim off any fat from the juice, add the flour and bring to a boil. Puree the sauce or put it through a sieve. Cut meat into slices and serve with some sauce poured over the meat.

To make the potato noodles, mix all the ingredients together to a smooth dough. If the potatoes are fairly new or not very starchy, more flour (1/2 cup) may have to be added. Shape dough into little noodles.

Drop a batch of noodles into boiling salt water and cook briefly for about 1 minute. Be careful not to overcook them. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Repeat until all noodles are done. Melt butter, add bread crumbs (optional) and brown slightly. Toss noodles in the butter before serving. This, too, should be done in several batches.