Hungarian Goulash

Okay, yes, the name is redundant because yes, I know, goulash is a Hungarian word for stew or soup. But that’s what my mom called it and this is mostly (but definitely not) my mom’s recipe, so that’s what I’m calling it. My mom was a fan of the old Betty Crocker style of cooking that often involved things like bisquick and cans of soup. This is not one of those recipes. No recipes on this site are.

Goulash is really a simple dish; no fancy ingredients or dexterous methods. It’s basic home food. So why my mom’s version included convenience foods is beyond me. This is also one of the cheaper ways to make something a little different than your typical beef stew.

The ones I ate as a kid were simmered on the stovetop, but I was on a roll with the “once a month cooking” thing and my tiny stovetop was already occupied so I did this one in the crock pot.

What you need:

1 lb stewing beef, or some other tough-ish cut that will stand up to simmering

2 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper

1 onion

1 red pepper

3 cloves garlic

½ tin (~1/4 c) tomato paste

½ tsp Wostershire sauce

1 tsp paprika

2-3 c beef broth (or water, if you don’t have any broth handy)

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp brown sugar (optional)

 

What you gotta do:

Chop the onion and red pepper into pieces. Size and shape is your preference, if you make them too small they’ll disappear into the broth after simmering all day. If you’re trying to feed this to a kid, that might be a good idea actually.

Finely mince the garlic.

If it hasn’t already been done, trim any excess fat from the beef and dice into cubes. 1 inch or so should do.

In a largish bowl, toss the beef with the salt, pepper and flour until it’s coated. Dump the beef into the crock pot. Don’t put the bowl in the sink just yet.

Dump the garlic, onion and pepper on top of the beef, in the crock pot.

In that largeish bowl that once had floury beef in it, combine the tomato paste, Wostershire sauce, paprika, stock (or water), vinegar, and brown sugar (if you’re using it). Stir gently until it’s kinda soupy looking.

Pour the soupy tomatoey, brothy mixture over the beef and veggies.

Put the lid on the crock pot, set it to high, and find something to do for 3 or 4 hours. Or set it to low and occupy yourself for 6 to 8 hours.

I like mine over noodles, usually wide egg noodles, but I’ve seen it served over rice or potatoes too. I’ve even seen recipes that include potatoes and carrots and mushrooms and any other veggie that’s handy. I mean, really, it is a basic throw together dish, so you can add or subtract just about anything. The one thing you can’t do away with is paprika.

Paprika is a dried and ground capsicum. Yup, it’s a pepper, kinda like cayenne, but it’s not as spicy, in fact, it’s more of a sweet pepper, and it’s got a kind of smoky flavour since they’re usually dried by smoking. Paprika is a natural food colourant (like when “natural colour” is listed in the ingredients) and sometimes used in henna so try not to get it on yourself. Or am I the only one who needs this kind of warning? It’s got betacarotene, which your body turns into vitamin A, and also has strangely high amounts of vitamin C in it, but that’s usually cooked off.

The dish itself is a nice rich meal. It’s got almost no fat in it, but if you were to quickly fry that floury beef in bacon fat before putting it in the crock pot.... hey, I’m just sayin’.

It freezes really well too. I did this as part of my once a month cooking thing at the beginning of the school year, and I got four meals out of it, 2 dinners and 2 lunches. I cooled the pot in a sink of water then ladelled the goulash into sturdy freezer bags. The medium size Glad brand ones hold a lunch and dinner if I make noodles to go with it. If you’re going to save it like this, lay the bags flat to freeze then, once they’re solid, stand them up like books on a shelf. Mine fit handily into the spaces on the rack in the freezer.

 And when you're too busy studying electrical circuts to make dinner, you can just boil some noodles and suddenly have dinner.

Comments

[Taneasha]

Ladle that over a baked potato and I am so there. Ok, so it looks pretty good on those noodles, too. I wonder if I could get my husband to eat this. He doesn't usually do 'stew', but he loves beef stroganoff... go figure. Since this one doesn't have anything too nefarious in it, like carrots or peas, he might even like it. I just have to remember not to involve the words stew or goulash. It'll be like playing Taboo.

[Seeley deBorn]

It's unbelievably easy to hide vegetables in dishes like this! If you chop everything small enough (carrots,you have to grate), they'll be virtually invisible after 8 hours in the crock pot on low.