Rindsgulasch (Beef Goulash)

Lisa Joy writes:

"When I was growing up, my mother served us what she called ‘goulash’. It was a mixture of hamburger, macaroni and some tomatoey sauce all gouped together in what was, no offense to my mother who is quite a good cook, one of my least favorite dishes. Many people I know had similar experiences with goulash growing up. So when I arrived in Austria I was surprised and slightly horrified to realize that goulash is about as common as Wiener Schnitzel. Until I tasted real gulasch, that is. Gulasch in Austria is a stew flavored with paprika. I’ve read that really, sauteed onions, with paprika added once the pot has been removed from heat, is the base of gulasch, and you can pretty much add anything after that; although I would stay away from hamburger and macaroni, thank you very much.

The recipe below is pretty basic, and gets you a cross between a very thick stew, and beef with a paprika gravy. If you ordered gulasch in a restaurant, you’d get something similar to this, probably with knödel (bread dumplings) on the side. Add more stock or water, with bite-sized potatoes thrown in at the end until they are tender, and you get gulaschsuppe (goulash soup, pictured), great served with crusty bread. Instead of sauteing onions in butter, fry onions with some bacon, substitute two lbs of potatoes for 2 lbs of beef (and only cook until potatoes are tender), and throw in a few sliced smoked sausages towards the end of cooking time, and you have Kartoffelgulasch (potato goulash). Take the recipe below, and to each serving add a fried egg, a sausage and a sweet and sour pickle, and you get Viennese gulasch. It’s fun to experiment. If possible, use Hungarian paprika. And if you like spicy things, and can find it, use sharf (sharp or spicy) paprika. This will make the goulash ‘sing’."

Use cheap beef with this. You really want tough meat, because it thickens the gravy as it breaks down with the long cooking time.

2 lbs stew beef, cut into pieces

1 ½ lbs onions, chopped

2 T melted butter or olive oil

1 T paprika (I use more, but most recipes call for this. If using American paprika, I think you’d probably have to add quite a bit more.)

1 T tomato paste

dash cider vinegar

1 ½ - 2 cups water or beef stock

1 T goulash spice mix (garlic, marjoram and caraway seeds)

salt

Finely diced potatoes, if needed

Heat butter or oil in a large pot and saute onions until tender. Add beef and brown. Remove from heat and stir in paprika – do NOT fry the paprika. Stir in tomato paste and vinegar. Add water, return to heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 -3 hours, until beef is tender and gravy is thickened, adding more water or stock as needed. If gravy is too thin, add some very finely chopped potatoes and cook until thickened.