King Arthur's Hungarian Goulash

        

         A few years ago when I married my second husband, my good friend Jean sent me a gift subscription to “The Baking Sheet” from the King Arthur Flour company.  Jean and I both love to bake, and she knew that I would enjoy this publication as much as she does.  The first issue was full of great recipes for breads, muffins, cookies and cakes, many of which I have made.  But my favorite recipe was for "Hungarian Gulas" (Goulash), presented as a companion for their "Czech Dumplings".  Soon after magazine arrived, I made the dumplings and the goulash.  

        The Czech dumplings are, quite honestly, not worth the trouble.  First you prepare a yeast dough, which you form into logs, allow to rise for an hour and a half, then carefully immerse in boiling water for 15 minutes.  After you remove the dumplings from the water, you must pierce them several times, and let them rest for another 15 minutes before cutting them into slices.  The resulting dumplings are decidedly less awesome than those you could throw together with Bisquick.    

        The Hungarian Goulash, on the other hand, is excellent.  I make it whenever I think my husband needs a break from salmon, fresh beets and arugula.  Tonight for an extra special treat, I will forgo my usual healthy whole grain bread and serve the goulash over Mrs. Miller’s “homemade” wide egg noodles.  If that isn’t comfort food I don’t know what is.  Plus the noodles are organic.  

Here is the recipe.

                                            Hungarian Goulash

Ingredients:

5 Tbs. vegetable oil

3 or 4 large onions  

2 - 3 pounds chuck or shin beef, cut into 1 inch cubes

11 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup sweet Hungarian paprika

2 Tbs. tomato paste (optional)

24 oz. beef stock

1 tsp. marjoram

1 tsp. caraway seeds

salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbs. flour

1/4 cup cold water

Notes about the ingredients:

Vegetable Oil-  I don’t measure it, but you can if you want to.

Beef-  I rarely use chuck because it is too fatty.  And I have never seen shin beef for sale at our grocery store.  My favorite cut for a stew-type recipe is eye of round roast.  This cut is nice and lean; any fat is around the outside so it is easy to remove.  Eye round is always available, and this week it was on sale two for one at Giant Eagle.  

Garlic-  I always use the jars of minced garlic.  Who doesn’t?  Just estimate 11 cloves.

Tomato paste-  This is not really optional.

Beef Stock-  I buy the 26 oz container of Swanson’s unsalted beef stock.  You don’t have to worry about the extra 2 oz. if you are generous with the tomato paste.

Hungarian Paprika- I’m not sure what would happen if you used regular paprika, but I don’t want to find out.

Marjoram-  If you don’t have this herb, you can substitute basil, thyme, savory or even Greek oregano.      

Caraway Seeds-  There is no substitute.  You need caraway seeds.

Salt-  With all the herbs and spices, you will not need much salt.

Flour-  I use King Arthur, but I daresay any brand will work just as well for this recipe.

Directions:

1. Heat 3 Tbs. oil in a large frying pan.  Cut up the onions and begin browning them.

(Actually the recipe says to “caramelize” the onions.  It’s the same thing.)

2. While the onions are cooking, cut up the beef.  Heat 2 Tbs. oil in a large pot or Dutch oven and brown the meat.

3. By this time the onions should be sufficiently caramelized.  Add them to the beef, along with the garlic.  Stir together and cook for a minute.

4. Stir in the paprika and tomato paste and cook for another minute.

5. Add the beef broth, marjoram, caraway seed, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil; then cover and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours until the meat is tender.

6. Mix the 2 Tbs. flour into the water and add this mixture to the goulash.  Cook for a few minutes. 

7. Serve over noodles, dumplings, or whatever you like.