Old-Fashioned Tzimmis (recipe, meat)

TZIMMIS  M  SERVES: 12

I love the flavors of the sweet potatoes and the way the brown sugar and lemon juice make the meat taste like candy.

Prep time: 20 min.   Cooking: 1 ½ hours   Chilling: overnight

Removing fat & baking: 3 hours

Ingredients           

4 pounds sweet potatoes               

2 pounds white potatoes               

1 pound pitted prunes

1 pound baby carrots

3 pounds Flanken

¾ cup dark brown sugar

juice of 2 lemons

Equipment

Large Dutch oven with cover

Oven to table serving casserole

Directions

1. Peel sweet potatoes and white ones. Cut potatoes into slices ½ inch thick.
2. Arrange some of the Flanken on the bottom of Dutch oven. Arrange slices of sweet and white potatoes over the meat. Scatter some prunes and carrots over potatoes. Sprinkle some of the brown sugar and lemon juice over this layer. Repeat this process until all the ingredients are finished.* Fill the Dutch oven with water until the ingredients are barely covered. Bring to a boil on top of the stove and reduce to a simmer. Simmer ingredients for 1 ½ hours. Remove from heat and let it cool.
3. Carefully remove meat, potatoes, carrots and prunes from liquid. Arrange in oven to table serving dish. Place gravy in freezer several hours or in refrigerator overnight until fat congeals at the top. Remove fat. Taste gravy and adjust seasoning by adding more brown sugar and or lemon juice if necessary. Pour gravy over sweet potato mixture. Place in preheated 375 F. oven and bake for two to three hours basting constantly until gravy has thickened and glazed ingredients. Serve hot. This dish may be cooled completely and frozen.

*Vegetarian version: Layer all ingredients except for the meat. Bring to a boil and simmer about 20-30 minutes until potatoes and carrots are soft. Place immediately into preheated 375 F. oven and bake basting constantly until sauce has thickened and glazed the other ingredients. Serve hot or cool completely and freeze.