Well, had a little bit of trouble today. Went to start the fire, picked up the fire bowl to clean it out and it practically deteriorated in my hands. It was rusted out to nothing. Guess I should have put it away, it was pretty thin and cheap. Guess Ill have to make one.
Since open fires are not permitted in my township I moved the Goulash operation indoors.
Whatcha gonna do?
Here is my recipe for honest to goodness Hungarian Goulash. Two rules are NEVER add tomato and NEVER ad green or red peppers. It just wont be Hungarian Goulash if you do.
Best ingredients are:
Meat: Ox tail for stock, Shin or heel meat for stew.
Veg: Onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes,
Spice: Paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram, celery seed, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
Make a brown beef stock by first peel all of the veg and keep the peelings. Then heat up a large stock pot. Put some oil in the bottom and pour in the peels from your veg. Let these begin to brown. Then add your ox tail.
Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Then turn to low and let simmer for about 3-4 hours.
Then strain the stock and remove the ox tails.
Wipe out the stock pot and return to the heat. Over medium heat add some oil, then add the heel or shin meat that has been cubbed into 1-2" pieces. Let brown and season with salt and pepper. Dont add to much meat at once or it will pull the water out and bol it insted of browning it. Repeat untill all of the meat is browned.
Remove the meat and set aside.
Then add the onion and carrots. Toss and let them brown in the pot. Then add the spices. toss and saute for another five mins or so.
Then put the beef cubes back in and add the stock covering all of the ingredients. Let simmer for an hour or so until the meat is tender.
After the meat is cooked add the potatoes cut into 2" pieces and return the oxtail pieces as well. Cover and over low heat simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
There are many variations on Goulash in all different countries. But this is the authentic Hungarian version. I learned how to make this in a little town in Hungary. It was so much fun.
Nic, spicy goulash is still authentic. I like it spicy too. But I would suggest you do what I do. Make it with sweet paprika and have some chili garlic sauce on the table for those who want it spicy.
June Meyer, one of the foremost authorities on Hungarian cooking in this country has a great website.
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~june4/goulash.htmlHer recipe differs slightly from mine mostly cause of the caraway seeds, I have had this discussion with Mrs Meyer and she agrees that the caraway seed is authentic she just does not include it in her recipe. I, on the other hand feel that it is indispensable.
She has lots of great recipes on that website.
Topic: Ethnic and Regional Cooking (Read 233330 times)
