Goulash

Today is a miserable Friday – windy, grey and overcast so I thought we’d have something nice and warming for supper. Beef (and mushroom) goulash, I know it’s not authentic but I like smoked paprika. As we are having friends tonight I splashed out and bought slightly more expensive steak than I normally would,  plus – the kitchen smells great. I just need to stop dipping crusty bread in the juices.

Preparation time: 20 minutes. Cooking time 1.5 hours.

Ingredients

•  2  tbsp oil
• 600g  steak,  cut  into  bite size chunks
• 2 tbsp. plain flour
• 400g onions,  thinly  sliced
• 4 fat cloves of garlic,  finely  chopped
•  400g field mushrooms cut into bite size pieces
• 2  tbsp tomato puree
• 1  heaped tbsp. paprika
• 1 chili finely chopped (optional)
• 4 tomatoes chopped (tinned ones are fine but drain them first)
• 1/2 glass of white  wine (or water)
•  300ml stock  (beef, chicken or vegetable)
•  4 tbsp.  soured  cream
• 2 tbsp. chopped chives

Method

1. Heat the oven to 140C
2. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in heatproof casserole on a moderate heat on the hob
3. Sprinkle the flour in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper
4. Toss the cubes of beef in the flour to lightly coat
5. Fry the floured beef in batches until lightly golden all over
6. Put the fried beef to one side
7. Add another tbsp. oil to the casserole
8. Gently fry the mushroom, garlic and onions until the onions have softened
9. Add the tomato puree, paprika, chili if you are using it
10. Add the white wine or water and let it bubble for a minute
11. Add the beef, chopped tomatoes and stir on the heat for two minutes
12. Cover with a lid and bake in the oven for 1.5 hours. (or simmer on the hob for same)
13. Serve over buttered noodles or rice with a tbsp of soured cream on top sprinkled with chives

Variants

• I often use shin beef in this recipe and cook for 3 hours
• Use sliced peppers instead of the mushrooms
• Use pork instead of the beef – pork and peppers is much nicer than pork and mushrooms IMHO
• If you want a really low fat version use diced turkey (I buy turkey legs as they are very cheap!) and halve the quantity of oil
• Use coarsely ground beef instead of chunks – and it cooks a lot quicker
• For a vegetarian option use various mushrooms to replace the beef, and optionally add sweetcorn kernels (I use the frozen ones) about fifteen minutes before serving.
• As a second vegetarian option omit the mushrooms and add diced tofu part way through the cooking
• To feed a lot of people add chunks of potato – I do this for a family barbeque

About redtomcat

Competent Cook & Novice Allotmenteer

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