Slices of Cow (Sucadelappen)

This is my Dutch husband's mother's recipe. If you started life off eating this 4 days in a row, you'd probably expire by the 5th. But what a way to go! For this you would ideally get the cuts of beef known as "sucadelappen" in Dutch. It's a lean cut of meat from the shoulder. In practice, almost any kind of lean beef will do, and if it's marbled a little then fine. Cut off most of the fat but leave a little on for flavor. We used "mock tenderloin steaks" the first time and the beef you see in the photo with the fork is bottom loin. Both were excellent, but the bottom loin was slightly superior. And furthermore, MOO.

• Ready In: 6 hrs 10 mins
• Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs beef, in slices of 1/2-inch- 3/4-inch thick
•  pepper
•  salt
• 3⁄8 cup butter
• 3⁄8 cup margarine
• 1 -2  cup hot water

Directions

1. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the beef.
2. In a large pot, melt the butter and margarine over high heat, until it's starting to brown. Mix well - the margarine will melt faster than the butter.
3. When the butter is browning, put the slices of beef in the pot (still over high heat) and turn after 1-2 minutes.
4. When the other side is browned too, add 1-2 cups of hot water (the beef should be covered), put the lid on and let simmer on the low heat (just a little bubbling in the pot)) for at least 6 hours.
5. When the beef is done, lift the beef from the pot and put in a bowl.
6. Then, very carefully, drain off most of the molten butter/margarine from the pot. You should be left with a brown sludge that actually contains very little fat.
7. Pour this thin gravy over the beef before serving, and also over some nice cooked potatoes. Alternately, you could thicken with a little flour or cornstarch.
8. You won't need a knife - the beef falls apart if you cough.