I have been to two of the many countries which claim goulash amongst their national dishes, Hungary and the Czech Republic. I'm not taking sides (actually I am, and that side is Hungary's, the Czechs invented Pilsner and they can't take the credit for everything) and I'm sure both regional variations on the dish have things going for them.
Goulash, as I'm sure you must all know, is basically a stew or casserole, the defining ingredient probably being paprika, lots of paprika in fact. There must be hundreds of variations of the recipe, some of which are basically soups, some of which have dumplings, some of which have noodles, some which use beef, some which use other meats. Lots of variety, get the picture?
I've been trying to perfect my version of goulash for a while now. Unfortunately when I try and 'perfect' a recipe it more often than not ends up with more ingredients rather than less. This is a flaw of mine. Antoine de Saint-Exupry would not be happy.
An easy Goulash
(has been known to feed six hungry men at a poker night)
Ingredients
Oil (I used olive, vegetable would be fine)
1 kilogram stewing steak, such as shin, cut into bitesize pieces
3 tablespoons plain flour
2 large onions (chopped finely)
3-5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
3 bell peppers, a combination of green and red (chopped into small pieces)
Carrot/parsnip/potato (about 3 whole veg in total, whatever combination you fancy, in this version I used a potato and two carrots. Diced)
Some chillis (depending upon how spicy you like stuff, you don’t want goulash too spicy-hot though in my opinion, I used three small red chillis)
6 tablespoons tomato purée (Confession- I usually just use a whole tube)
Shedloads paprika (min 3 tablespoons, depending on how old it is) you can use a little smoked paprika too if you like as well
2 teaspoons caraway seeds, ground
Bay leaf
4 large tomatoes, diced
A large splash of dry white wine
600 ml beef stock
handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
black pepper and salt
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Serve with bread or rice. Some sour cream or cream fraiche can go well.
Instructions
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| Lots of vegetables |
Heat up a tablespoon or of oil in a casserole dish.
Dust the pieces of beef with the flour and brown them (in batches if necessary), in the hot casserole dish. Set the browned meat aside for later.
Add a little more oil to the casserole dish. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, diced vegetables, caraway seeds and chilli. Fry until softened, around 5 minutes.
Return the beef to the pan and add the tomato puree and LOADS of paprika. Cook for a little while, stirring continually.
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| I used a big pan until stirring was complete to help avoid making a mess |
Add in the tomatoes, white wine, bay leaf and beef stock. Again, give it a good stir. Put the lid on the casserole and bake in the oven at about 180 oC for at least 1 hour 30 minutes.
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| Transferred to casserole dish to go in oven |
Take out of the oven and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley, saving a little for garnish if you wish.
I'd love to try this recipe, but can you suggest any pescatarian-friendly alternatives to steak? Or should I just go for extra veg? Thanks for any suggestions!
ReplyDeleteHello Miss T! Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteI think you could probably do a lot worse than just sticking an extra potato or two in. This dish has plenty of different veg in, so it's not like it's going to lack variety by losing the meat.
Saying that, I could also be tempted to add something new though, party because you will have to substitute the beef stock for vegetable, and beef stock contributes to the goulashy flavour. I think the addition of some mushrooms would make up fot this perfectly, if I were doing it I would soak a handful of porcini mushrooms, drain them (keeping the juices to add with your veg stock), and add them and a whole bunch of other mushrooms (just whatever you can conveniently get) just before the tomato puree and paprika.
Alternatively you could go for some aubergine, perhaps cubing it and then marinading it with some paprika olive oil and a little salt for a wee while. Then add it just before the puree so it is well cooked before you add the liquid.
Anyway, there's some ideas. Let me know what you decide!
Good blog.
ReplyDeleteLike Rachel Khoo but less irritating.