Czech Goulash With Bread Dumplings Food

CZECH BEEF GOULASH (GULAS)

Steps:

• Peel the onion and chop it roughly. Cut the beef into 1-1.½-inch pieces.
• Melt the lard or vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a pot with a thick bottom (I use a heavy iron cast Dutch oven). Fry onions until almost brown. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Finally, add the crushed caraway seeds and stir for another minute.
• Add beef chunks, season with salt, and fry them from all sides until a golden brown crust is created. Expect the meat releases some juices when fried. Stir frequently, and scrape off the burnt residue on the bottom of the pot with a wooden spatula. If necessary, reduce the heat or add a spoon or two of water.
• Turn the stove on medium heat, and add ground pepper, sweet paprika, and tomato paste. Fry for 1 minute while stirring. The base can't get burnt, or else the goulash will taste bitter. Add 1-2 spoons of water to prevent burning.
• Pour in water, so the meat is almost covered. Add bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a minimum, cover with a lid and allow the beef to simmer for 2-2.5 hours or until soft.
• Check the goulash from time to time. Add some water if the level of liquid in the pot falls. When the gulas contains too much water, cook it uncovered at the end. The liquid will be reduced, and the gulas will gain a richer flavor and a nice red color. Stir occasionally.
• When the beef cubes are soft, add flour to thicken the stew. In the next step, I'll provide a helpful method for making the stew sauce smoother and more cohesive.
• Thickening of goulash with flour (optional): Take off the pot's lid. Using a small sieve, carefully dust the surface of the stew with a tablespoon of flour. Do not stir. Cover with the lid and leave to cook for a further 15 minutes. Remove the lid and stir. The sauce will be just thick enough!
• Remove bay leaves, add crushed garlic and dried marjoram, and stir. Season with salt to your liking. Cover with a lid and let it rest off heat for 10 minutes.

GOULASH WITH BREAD DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For the goulash: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few turns of pepper. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is shimmering, sear the beef all over in batches until deep brown, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer the beef to a bowl and set aside.
• Add the onions and cook, scraping up any meat bits from the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots, garlic and a pinch of salt and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the paprika, tomato paste and caraway and stir to combine; cook for 2 minutes. Add the beef back to the pan, then add the broth, chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover, transfer to the oven and cook until the beef is tender and can be broken down with a spoon but still maintains its shape, about 2 hours.
• For the bread dumplings: Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon salt and a few turns of pepper in a small bowl. Whisk together the milk and eggs in a large bowl. Add the bread cubes, cheese and scallions to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Mix in the flour mixture. Let the dumpling mixture sit for 15 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Using a 1/3-cup ice cream scoop, form firmly packed balls of the dumpling mixture. Add them to the pot and boil until cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Spoon the goulash into bowls and add a dumpling or two to each. Top with chopped parsley or scallions if desired.

TRADITIONAL CZECH BREAD DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Whisk together egg yolks and milk in a separate medium bowl.
• Pour the egg-milk mixture into the bowl with flour.
• Work the dough-with a Danish dough whisk, hands, or a stand mixer with the dough hook-until it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
• Cover and let stand for 1 hour.
• Bring a large stockpot of salted water to a slow boil.
• Work the 4 cups of bread cubes into the batter by hand or in a stand mixer with the dough hook until well incorporated.
• Shape the dough using floured hands into 3 or 4 rolls that are about 8 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide.
• Carefully slip the rolls into the water once it is boiling, giving them a stir so they don't stick. If the pot doesn't comfortably fit all the rolls, boil them in batches.
• Reduce heat, cover, and cook 10 to 15 minutes. Cooking the rolls at a rapid boil can cause them to disintegrate.
• Remove 1 dumpling from the pot using a slotted spoon after 10 minutes of cooking and test for doneness by cutting through the middle of the dumpling with a thread or sharp knife. The dumpling is done when the knife comes out almost clean after slicing it.
• Remove the dumplings one by one when done and slice into 3/4-inch pieces using either a thread or sharp knife. Repeat until all dumplings are removed from the water and sliced.
• Serve warm with gravy and garnish with fresh parsley.

CZECH GOULASH WITH BREAD DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Goulash:.
• Sauté onion and garlic in shortening until translucent.
• Add meat with spices and sauté till brown.
• Add water; simmer, covered, until meat is tender, about 1 hour.
• Add finely grated potato into the meat and simmer 5 minutes stirring often.
• Serve with dumplings or bread.
• Dumplings:.
• Mix together beaten egg, milk, flour, baking powder and salt until smooth.
• Add bread cubes to batter and mix well.
• Make two small loaves.
• Drop into large pot of vigorously boiling water. Cook 10 minutes, then roll dumpling over and cook an additional 10 minutes. Remove immediately from water and cut ends off to release steam.
• Cut into 1/2 inch slices and serve.

HOVěZí GULáš (CZECH BEEF GOULASH)

Steps:

• Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in batches for about 3 to 5 minutes per batch. You'll likely need to do about 5 batches if you're using a 10-inch wide pot. Set the seared meat aside as you complete each batch. If you are using a cast iron pan (like an enameled Le Creuset French oven) it will retain heat extra well, and you may want to lower the heat to medium partway through the searing process if the meat is browning too fast.
• Add onions to the empty pot and cook until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Next, add flour, tomato paste, paprika, garlic, and dried marjoram. Stir and cook for 1 minute, then add the water, stirring to dissolve the tomato paste and flour, and scraping up any of the fond (the dark brown residue from searing the beef) still left on the bottom of the pan.
• Return the seared beef and any residual juices to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for 1 ½ hours, then uncover and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes until the beef is fork tender, and the liquid has thickened. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
• Serve on a flat plate with a slight lip around the edge, topped with sliced onion for garnish, and a few slices of Czech dumplings or bread on the side to soak up the sauce.

BEEF GOULASH WITH LIGHT CZECH DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a deep dutch oven, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and sugar until caramelized. Add the garlic and ground toasted caraway seed. Cook another minute.
• Add the sweet and spicy paprika, marjoram, thyme and bay leaf. Sauté another minute, until fragrant.
• Add the tomato paste. Deglaze with the vinegar and the stock and add the pieces of beef, salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
• Cover and cook until very tender, about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
• To prepare the dumplings:.
• Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Combine with the milk and melted butter, mixing lightly.
• After the stew has cooked until tender, the last 15 mins, drop the dumpling batter by (heaping) teaspoonfuls into the simmering stew.
• Cover and cook for 15 minutes, then test the dumpling with a toothpick - if comes out clean, dumplings are ready.
• Once you have covered the pan, DO NOT UNCOVER while the dumplings are cooking! In order for them to be light and fluffy, they must steam. If you uncover the pan, the steam will escape and the dumplings will boil instead.
• Enjoy!