Hungarian Beef Goulash

First off, before you do anything, check your supply of paprika and make sure that it has not been idling away since the ice age and that you have enough of it to feed a small army. I am clearly not Hungarian as I would have known about the massive amounts of paprika Hungarians enjoy putting into their dishes. Up to this point, I thought this rusted colored spice served only as a garnish for deviled eggs. Nope, that is absolutely an important flavor and does not exist to simply throw a hint of color into dishes. On that note, since paprika plays such a prominent role in this particular dish, I would also advise that only the best Hungarian sweet paprika be used. If you have a Penzey's in your area, that really is your best bet to stock up for this recipe.

The second item that I think I should bring to your attention is the incredibly robust taste of this dish. Go ahead and have this dish without the props but for my purposes, I had to put this with pasta and peas to ease the strong flavor. I also was using this as dinner for my little guy and he was happy with it as long as it was ground up and mixed with the peas and pasta. Anything else was met with stiff resistance.

One final note is that the size of this recipe obviously was meant to feed the masses. Since I just live with my little guy, I had to freeze a huge portion of it for about three months. This dish froze and thawed beautifully and I would even say the flavor was even better after the ingredients had a chance to bond doing hard time together in the ice box. Make some now, save it for later and it can be a nice dish that you forgot about and pleasantly rediscover after months of being ignored. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Best Slow and Easy Recipes, from the Editor's of Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium onions, minced
1/4 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup tomato paste
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Kosher salt
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup minute tapioca
2 bay leaves
5 pounds boneless beef chuck eye roast, cubed
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream

Method:

Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onions, paprika, tomato paste, garlic, caraway seeds and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are softened and highly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits.

Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker and stir in the soy sauce, tapioca, and bay leaves until evenly combined. Season the meat with salt and pepper and nestle it in the slow cooker. Cover and cook, either on low or high, until the meat is tender, 9 to 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.

Let the cooking liquid settle for 5 minutes and remove as much fat as possible from the surface using a large spoon. Remove the bay leaves. Stir the sour cream into the stew, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over noodles and peas. Enjoy! AJ

Beouf Bourguignon (Beef Stew)

Leave it to the French to come up with the most elegant and refined beef stew imaginable. That really is all that Beouf or Beef Bourguignon is; beef stew with a sophisticated taste. True there is a good amount of alcohol that is used in this dish as opposed to American beef stew which probably gives it that “refined” taste. I have to say though, what a difference a little alcohol makes!

I have made different versions of this dish over the years and I prefer Ina Garten’s version over Julia Child’s. Garten puts in Cognac, which, I think really elevates the flavor. However, Garten’s recipe calls for a slice of sourdough bread rubbed with garlic instead of the typical noodles to accompany the dish and I personally think the noodles are better. That said, if you get a big piece of French bread to dip into the amazing sauce, you will not be able to stop eating, it is that good. So, without further rambling, here is the recipe that will make you weak in the knees and wanting to catch the next plane to France. Enjoy!

Recipe from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten.

Recipe:

1 tablespoon good olive oil
8 ounces of good bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 cup Cognac
1 bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
1 can (2 cups) beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen whole onions
1 pound fresh mushrooms stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

For serving:

hot plain noodles
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.

Toss the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

For each serving, spoon the stew over a bed of hot plain noodles and sprinkle with parsley.