The other day I made a giant batch of my favourite stew: Hungarian Goulash.
Many of you probably don’t know what goulash is, or equate it with something not-so-classy. In America, goulash is apparently some kind of “chuck your leftovers and some ground beef in a pot” type of concoction with some macaroni thrown in for good measure. Likely served with a big side of Heinz ketchup 😉
For me, the name vaguely reminds me of the Russian word “Gulag” dancing into my head from history classes gone by. Gulag was the word for Stalin’s concentration camps in the former USSR. Hmm.
Okay, forget the name – goulash is actually delicious and awesome, and has got nothing to do with macaroni, ketchup, or forced labour. And it has a particularly special place in my heart, maybe because it’s the national dish of Hungary, and Hungary is where I met my lovely boyfriend (now husband), Luke, back in 2008.
We spent many of our first dates getting to know each other over a bowl of authentic Hungarian goulash. We also used to cook huge pots of it every week and sell it to the hungry backpackers staying in our hostel (we worked in a hostel in Budapest) to make a few extra forints (the Hungarian currency).Â
Budapest
So what is goulash then?
While there are many recipe variants throughout Hungary and other Eastern European countries, basically it’s a hearty beef and veggie stew with the defining feature being a truck load of paprika. Hungary is famous for its paprika, and thus, this dish goes heavy on it. This is the way I make mine:
Ingredients:
- 600 g stewing beef cut into cubes (preferably pastured beef, if possible)
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1-2 carrots, diced
- 1-2 celery stalks, diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 1 tbs. tomato paste
- 2 fresh green peppers, sliced
- 2-3 medium potatoes, sliced
- 1 to several tablespoons sweet paprika powder (usually the more the merrier, and I tend to pile this on without abandon)
- 1 teaspoon ground caraway seed
- 1 bay leaf
- ground black pepper and sea salt according to taste
- water (or homemade beef or chicken bone broth is best if you have some!)
Instructions:
- In a high edged frying pan, saute onions in a bit of cooking oil (pastured lard, tallow, ghee, or coconut oil preferably) until golden brown. Sprinkle the paprika on the browned onions while stirring, to prevent it from burning.
- Add the beef and saute until it is no longer pink and slightly browned.
- Add garlic, caraway seeds, salt, pepper, a bay leaf, and add enough water or bone broth to cover the contents. Cover with a lid and let simmer on low for an hour or two until the beef begins to get tender (the longer you cook stewing beef, the more tender it becomes).
- Once the beef tastes not-so-chewy, transfer the contents of the frying pan to a large stockpot and add all remaining vegetables (tomato, carrot, potatoes, green peppers, and celery). Although water level may be well below the level of vegetables, do not add more liquid if you want a nice, thick stew. Soon the veggies will shrink and release their own juices and there won’t be a need for added liquid.
- Cook covered on medium low heat until all vegetables are cooked through, and the beef is nice and tender. Taste it to see if it needs something extra, and if so, our remedy is usually add more paprika! (and maybe some sea salt too)
- EAT! yum. This recipe serves lots. Be prepared for leftovers.
Now because it can take so long for the beef to become tender, I will warn you that this recipe is not such a good idea to embark on when you just get home from work and you’re really hungry. I have made that mistake before! It’s a good recipe for the weekend when you can start it early in the afternoon, and then you can eat the leftovers all week.
Or, my favourite way to make this is in a crockpot. That way, you could just throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker before you go to work or school, set it on low, and have a delicious ready made stew waiting for you when you get home!
Enjoy!
Eliza says
May 28, 2012 at 1:29 pmHey tracy! awesome, I’m going to give this a try.
Question: do you think that your candida cleanse could help teenage hormonal acne? Because I’ve realized in reading this blog (I’m 15) that some of these things might not work because my acne is due to my age maybe? I don’t know but I really want to do your cleanse in the summer, but before I spend money, I just wanted to make sure that it would make some kind of difference?
Thanks!!!
Sampson says
May 28, 2012 at 3:40 pmALL acne is hormonal and inflammatory in nature.
Kim says
May 28, 2012 at 6:32 pmHey Tracy,
This recipe looks like so much fun! I cant wait to go try to make it!:) yummy.. Girl, i would love to see your scrapbbok of all the places tou have traveled!! Seems like you have been to some pretty interesting places! Wow, what was your favorite if you dont mind me asking?
Thanks for sharing the recipe with us
Tracy says
May 28, 2012 at 8:26 pm@Kim – yes I’ve traveled a bit! haha. I would love to do all sorts of irrelevant posts, such as about travel, but I never know if I should stray so far off topic. My favourite places? haha… so hard to choose. Morocco, New Zealand, and Laos come to mind (sorry, can’t just choose one!)
LJ says
May 29, 2012 at 6:05 pmI think you could do a really interesting post on this that was skin related if you mentioned how you dealt with skin issues on holiday/travelling/away from home. I barely ever go on holiday because I’m so dependent on my makeup, which just melts off and makes me hate any time I spend in hot countries…this is an insane reason that’s preventing me from seeing the world, so I for one would love to know about your thoughts on travelling with problem skin.
Tracy says
May 28, 2012 at 8:23 pmHi Eliza – yes, as Sampson says, all acne is caused by hormones which are out of whack due to something else. Teenage acne is also very influenced by diet and lifestyle, so yes, there is a good chance the candida cleanse could help you. Do you have candida symptoms?
-Frequent Digestive Problems – constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, or stomach cramps
-Skin Problems (includes acne, as well as eczema, itchy skin, rashes, etc)
-Frequent Yeast Infections
-Brain fog (trouble concentrating) and fatigue
-Intense sugar cravings
-Mood swings, anxiety, and irritability
Eliza says
May 29, 2012 at 12:28 pmI only have digestive problems if I drink milk (stomach cramps). I do have skin problems, brain fog and fatigue sometimes, intense sugar cravings, and mood swings/anxiety/irritability.
LJ says
May 28, 2012 at 3:49 pmMy mum makes a great goulash, I’d absolutely second you on telling people to try it – you can’t beat the paprika flavour!
Amy says
May 29, 2012 at 1:43 amCould you substitue potatoes for sweet potatoes or would that not work?
Tracy says
May 29, 2012 at 7:15 amProbably – in my mind, it wouldn’t really be goulash with that sweetness, but it would probably still taste good!
I know that potatoes are pretty high GI, but I have always figured that since it’s it’s like a couple potatoes spread out amongst a huge pot of soup, it’s not like you are getting tons of potatoes in your one bowl of soup when you eat it… you can also reduce the amount… just go with one or two if you want
hardeep says
May 30, 2012 at 1:51 amhi
thanks for the reciepe. but when you say to use ghee as i only have access to that oil, i always have serve stomach noises, dont hurt much but very noisy for a long time.
i make ghee homemade from kerrygold butter as suggested, what can i do instead? am i allergic?
thanks
Tracy says
May 30, 2012 at 8:41 amI’m not sure why it would make your stomach gurgle Hardeep… never heard of that before. I guess you don’t have to use any oil… or you could brown a bit of the beef first and let it release some of its fat and then add the onions and sautee them after
hardeep says
May 30, 2012 at 8:57 amhi
thats exactly what i thought, cant understand why i cant digest it well, been trying for 3 weeks and still the same result so really disappointed tbh. the lactose and caesin should have been removed unless im intolerant to dairy as a whole which is not good, ahhh sigh
thanks anyway