On our cold and rainy night in the mountains I made Hungarian Goulash for dinner, and, of course biscuits! A few years ago during a trip to Germany and Austria, I sort of fell in love with goulash. Although there were subtle variations in taste depending on where we were, I never found one I didn’t like. It’s all that paprika and the caraway seeds that give goulash such a unique taste. Take those out of the mix and you basically have a perfectly respectable beef stew.
When I got home and tried to recreate the dish, I found out there were a lot of very different recipes out there. One insisted on no tomato product whatsoever. Another called for a cup of Worcestershire sauce which sounds just horrible. The strangest one had a cup of chopped dill pickles in it, which makes me think they had confused it with a recipe for Sauerbraten.
I’ve had some time to read recipes and experiment and my final version is a combination of several of those recipes and experiments. It does have tomatoes and red pepper because my favorite ones all did. It also has carrots because I like the hint of sweetness. This isn’t that hard to make, but it takes a bit of time and probably isn’t perfect for a cookbook aimed at the novice cook. It sure smelled good cooking and was the perfect food for last night. I hope you make it and enjoy it as much as we did.
About the biscuits: I let Sammy pick which of our new jellies he wanted to sample. He picked Sassafras, because he remembers digging up sassafras roots on his grandparents’ farm and making tea. He liked it. I thought it smelled like fingernail polish remover and tasted like warm root beer. Tonight I get to pick and I’m going with Muscadine. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Did you know the original spelling of goulash is Gulyasleves?
Ingredients
2 slices bacon, chopped
1½ lb boneless beef chuck cut into 2-inch cubes
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 roasted red bell peppers, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika
2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 c beef broth
1 russet potato, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/4 c sour cream
Directions
Place a large heavy pot over medium heat and add the bacon.
Fry for about 5 minutes until crisp, remove to a paper towel and reserve.
Salt and pepper beef and add to the hot bacon fat. Brown it evenly on all sides.
(I did this in 2 batches so I didn’t crowd the pan.)
When the beef is browned, sprinkle the flour evenly in the pot and stir to dissolve clumps. Add a little oil if necessary to keep the meat from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Toss in the onions, garlic, roasted peppers, paprika, and caraway.
Cook and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant. Stir in the vinegar, and cook for a minute.
Add tomatoes and beef broth. Cover and simmer over low heat for two hours, stirring occasionally.
Add potatoes, carrots and reserved bacon and continue to simmer for 1/2 hour or until potatoes are tender.
Stir in sour cream and serve over noodles or alone. Delicious!
Serves 4
