Wannabe Goulash 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.

WANNABE GOULASH

Steps:

• brown ground beef and drain excess fat.
• add onion and garlic to beef and cook until tender.
• add water, tomato paste, worcestershire, stewed tomatoes, paprika and beef base.
• Add uncooked macaroni and let simmer for about 20 minutes until macaroni is tender--add more water if needed.
• Hominy/corn are optional if you like--I like it, the rest of the family doesn't.

GOULASH

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned and no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt, a few grinds of pepper, the paprika, and Italian seasoning to the beef and stir to combine. Cook, stirring, until the paprika begins to toast and become fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir the tomato paste into the beef mixture to coat, then cook until the paste thickens and deepens in color, about 2 minutes.
• Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire and beef broth to the beef mixture and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the cavatappi. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Remove the pot from the heat. Gently stir in the parsley and Cheddar until combined and the cheese starts to melt. Divide the goulash among 6 bowls and top with more shredded Cheddar and chopped parsley.

BEEF GOULASH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish or heavy-based saucepan. Sprinkle 700g stewing steak chunks with 30g plain flour and brown well in three batches, adding an extra 1 tbsp oil for each batch. Set the browned meat aside.
• Add in the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the casserole dish, followed by 1 large thinly sliced onion, 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper, both finely sliced. Fry until softened, around 5-10 mins.
• Return the beef to the pan with 2 tbsp tomato purée and 2 tbsp paprika. Cook, stirring, for 2 mins.
• Add in 2 large diced tomatoes, 75ml dry white wine and 300ml beef stock. Cover and bake in the oven for 1 hr 30 mins - 2 hrs. Alternatively, cover and cook it on the hob on a gentle heat for about an hour, removing the lid after 45 mins.
• Sprinkle over 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley leaves and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir in 150ml soured cream and serve.