At Thanksgiving every year one of the many things I am thankful for is that Wouter makes us a simple & cozy Dutch meal. Thank you Wouter for saving me from the turkey! In an earlier post, “t(wo) for Thanksgiving , t for Tennessee”, I posted another version of this meal which has become our Nashville tradition. Wouter has cooked this for me in his Mother’s kitchen in Amsterdam and in our kitchen here in Nashville many times…this is my favorite version of all.
“Hutspot and Draadjes Vlees”, which is loosely translated by me as “Mashed Potatoes, Carrots and Onions and Falling Apart Meat” starts with simple root vegetables and a piece of good roast beef, but all are elevated to lofty heights by the time the meal is ready to eat.
2 lbs of onion chunks on the bottom of the pan topped with 2 lbs of large slices of carrots, a bit of water and a small slab of Speck (slab bacon will do) on top in one pan.
Another pan for cooking the Yukon Gold potatoes, and the third pan is for cooking the Roast Beef in browned butter. A 3 pan Thanksgiving!
Well salted & peppered, the meat is cooked until it is literally falling apart tender with Bay Leaves and Whole Cloves.
The ingredients are the same as any American kitchen brings forth for an average Sunday Dinner, but in the hands of a Dutch cook the meat & Au Jus become much more aromatic with the addition of the cloves & bay leaves all cooked in browned butter. The mashed potatoes with the addition of equal amounts of carrots and onions become more flavorful cooked with the Speck. Small differences that add up to big flavor profiles that are comforting and delicious.
Wouter's Hutspot & Draadjes Vlees or Mashed Potatoes, Carrots & Onions Cooked with Speck and Falling Apart Meat in Au Jus
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
- 2 lbs large carrots, peeled & thick sliced
- 2 lbs yellow onions, trimmed & cut into chunks
- 4-6 ounces Speck (or a hunk of slab bacon or prosciutto)
- Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper
- Milk (for mash)
- 1/2 stick softened butter (for mash)
- 2 lbs Roast Beef meat
- 2 whole cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 stick butter for browning meat
Directions:
- Place chunked potatoes in a pan adding just enough water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until softened. Remove from heat & drain off liquid. Set aside covered.
- In a second pot layer pieces of onion topped with carrot slices. Top carrots with Speck. Pour 1.5 cups water around the vegs. Cook covered over medium heat until vegs are soft enough to mash, drain off liquid, set aside covered. Remove the Speck from the pan & shred or cut into thin slices. Set aside covered as well.
- While vegs for mash are cooking, brown butter in the 3rd pan over medium high heat. Cut meat into 3 pieces and brown in the butter, turning a few times. Turn heat to low. Sprinkle the bay leaves & whole cloves, salt & black pepper over the meat & cover. Cook for 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.
- To Make the Hutspot: Using a potato masher mash the cooked potatoes, carrots & onions together leaving them a bit chunky. Stir in softened butter, salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste. Top with the shredded/sliced Speck. Set aside covered, keeping warm until meat is ready. I put the Hutspot back in one of the veg cooking pots with the lid on and place in a warm oven.
- To Finish off the Draadjes Vlees: After cooking two hours, remove the meat from the pan to a cutting board. Slice thinly, return meat to the pan with the au jus, cover and cook for 1 more hour. At this point you will have “falling apart meat” in a flavorful Au Jus.
- To Serve: Scoop a portion of the Hutspot into the middle of a plate or shallow bowl creating a “well” for the Au Jus, Top with a few pieces of Speck. Add a portion of the cooked, sliced juicy roast beef.
Note: I often like to add a handful of arugula or baby spinach leaves to my plate that I stir into the juices and eat alongside the Hutspot & Draadjes Vlees. Rather than a heavier red wine, we usually have a crispy cold white wine with this dinner.
teresablackburnfoodstyling.com foodonfifth.com
Heel Lekker! 
Looks so good!
It is to die for! Just the perfect, easy to make supper.
This looks very European, I’m in Prague righ now and I saw a similar dish using pork instead of beef.
Yes it is very European…very Dutch and Delicious…Have fun in Prague you lucky girl! Happy Holidays
You had me at speck…one of my favorites! Hope your Thanksgiving went well.
It looks very good! I love the flavour of bay leaves with meat, it’s unique! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.. I love your plate!
Thanks so much. I found that pewter plate at a street/flea market in Amsterdam last year and I love it so much that I use it all the time on photo shoots. Happy Holidays.
As a Dutchie myself I can really appreciate this recipe!! Looks absolutely delicious!
Yes, I as a Southerner in the USA I do so love some of the very Dutch recipes that are simple and homey and cozy…especially for the winter months. Thanks.
You did good Wouter.
I will relay this to the Dutch Man..he is quite a good cook and loves to do cook up his Dutch dinners from time to time.
how do you say scrumptious in dutch?
Scrumptious!
Heerlijk! Heel Lekker!
I have had Wouter’s most-excellent Draadjes vlees and can attest to its beefy richness and taste. Truly, the combination of browned butter, cloves and bay leaves, which seems simple, and a little surprising, yields such complex tender bites.
Nance, your version is pretty darn good as well…it must be that schooling in The Netherlands that gives you the “touch”. Heel Lekker to yours as well.
Teresa, this sounds great! I did a version of this on Sat for my daughter and her family, but roasted the veggies and made a Yorkshire Pudding. We all agreed it was better than Thanksgiving turkey! The only problem here is that I can’t find the Print button in your post to easily print out the recipe. Also, what is Spek and where can you get it?
Kay, thanks so much for coming by Food on Fifth! I fixed the print button…it now works and it on the top right of the page. Sorry for the error…all on my part! Yorkshire Pudding I have never made but am intrigued by it. I will have to investigate this…Speck is basically a thick bacon..slab like. You can sometimes buy European Speck at Whole Foods but really slab Bacon works just as well. Wouter is a bit of a “Speck Snob” and always brings it back from Amsterdam on cooling bags! So we always have a bit frozen for using when he cooks this dish. Your Thanksgiving sounds just wonderful.
I am pinning this as one of the grass fed beef recipes I want to share with our customers when we begin to raise Highland cattle next year. It is so comforting-looking, but unique too- and mashing the carrots with the potatoes, so pretty! Thank you for creating this so I can share it.
Thanks so much…I used Grass Fed Beef for this as a matter of fact …there are quite a few folks who sell beef, pork and lamb among other goodies all year at our local Downtown Nashville Farmer’s Market and it is only a couple of blocks from my house. All organic and just delicious. Between my CSA and the Market I am pretty set for good meat and produce. Happy Holidays on the Farm.
A little birdie told me I will be getting this meal this Saturday night, can’t wait!! BTW, those are some beautiful hands in that photo….