Hungarian Goulash ~~ Not Just A Pretty Name

When I was a kid running out the door to go play, I would often ask my mother, "What's for dinner and what time do I have to be back?" And in her thick, German accent she would yell back once in awhile, "Goulash." Yuck! To a kid that just did not sound good at all. On the same level as gruel or maybe slop, you'd might say, and I wasn't diggin' this at all. But when we had it, I ate it, of course, because as a kid of the sixties, I wasn't going anywhere from the kitchen table until I finished dinner, or "You know what…would happen." I could muscle through and choke down the Goulash, but I spent many a night sitting at the kitchen table for hours staring at sautéed liver and onions, lamb, peas, and a few other 'jewels' from my childhood. Occasionally, I'd use the fork or knife to build little fortresses out of the meat blocks only to be attacked by the broccoli or asparagus creatures from the far side of the plate. Sometimes I paid dearly for this: Yes, I was a rascal as a kid. I could only fit so much into my napkin and bummer dude, no dog to feed under the table! True, here are even pictures documenting the event(s), thanks to my three older brothers, but I won't post any of them here.

Yeah, the word "Goulash" to a kid really doesn't have the same appeal of let's say, burger, spaghetti, pizza, or anything else like that. It sounds rather what I would call "Yuk" as we sat down to the dinner table. Oh, and these were just thoughts, because if I actually voiced my opinion, again, "You know what…" would happen. Over the years we had this dish quite frequently and I actually began to really like it as I got older. I mean after you get over the whole onion thing, it was basically spicy beef, gravy, and some sticky, slug-like dumplings.

You see, as a T-shirt, shorts, no shoes kid growing up on the beach in Hawaii kind of kid, I wasn't really used to sitting down to a table and having something like this:

Oh, but now that I'm older, I'd fly all the way to Salzburg, Austria and pay big Euros to have almost the same meal as my mother would make way back then. In December 2008, my wife and I traveled to Europe and we spent a few days in Salzburg over the holidays. 

Restaurant Alt-Salzburg

One evening we asked around to get info from the locals and we found this wonderful, quaint restaurant carved into the mountainside of the city, just past the cemetery that the Von Trapp family hid in during the movie, The Sound of Music. The Restaurant Alt-Salzburg was literally a jewel in the rough and, while not much to look at from the outside and hard to find, it boasted a fantastic, authentic menu and yes, Goulash was a special that night! Oh, I'm not kidding and yes, it was what I ordered too. It also came with Herb Spaetzle which is just about the same as the dumplings that my mother would make with her Hungarian Goulash.

I'm sure my mother would have been proud and yes, she would have enjoyed the evening there with us too. Well, she was in our thoughts that night and we talked about it at the table for a bit as I reflected back on my childhood and what all this meant to me now.

So, I went from running away from it as a kid to flying thousands of miles to have it authentically prepared. Ha! No stuffing napkins at the Alt-Salzburg that evening and definitely no meat wars on the plate with the spaetzle creatures either.

Now, enough of the history behind the dish and onto the recipe. Do I have your attention yet? Do you have some of the same childhood memories and/or experiences? Are you salivating from looking that the photos above? Okay, recipe time it is!

Basics…European Cooking: Meat; vegetables; gravy, lots of gravy. There you have it, Europe in a nutshell! Oh, and wine!

Without the dumplings, there are 3 basic steps in this recipe:

1. Brown the meat
2. Combine all the ingredients into the crockpot
3. Thicken as necessary for serving

First, cut the 2 pounds of stew meat into ½ inch, bite sized cubes. Over medium-high heat in a skillet, halfway cook 3 strips of good, thick-cut bacon. Add the 2 pounds of meat and stir frequently to brown all edges. It should look like this:

Then add 3 tablespoons of flour to the meat and cook for a few minutes more to give the meat a good crust. It is not necessary to cook the meat as that is what the crockpot is for in this recipe. Now the meat should look like this:

***NOTE***

My mother used a pressure cooker for this recipe when she made it. I don't use one because, honestly, I don't know how and I've heard bad stories about them and how they can be dangerous. I do, however, have the original pressure cooker she used and it sits idle in one of our cabinets. Maybe some day…

Secondly, combine all the ingredients into the crockpot. It should look like this:

And here are the ingredients:

Isn't that Hungarian Paprika color beautiful. And, at this point, I'm sure you are getting a lot of yummy smells too. Just wait a couple of hours and your home will smell amazing. Please, Yankee Candle Company, DO NOT make a candle of it. Y'all need to back off a bit and take it down a notch. Not every smell and scent needs to be a candle! Trust me.

Now, turn the crock pot on and cook on high for 4 hours, covered, and then uncovered for one hour. During the last hour some of the moisture will cook off and help thicken the Goulash.

IMPORTANT

Let's talk spices for a minute. The key to this dish is, you guessed it, Hungarian Paprika. So, how many of us have Hungarian Paprika in our spice cabinet? Yeah, I thought so. And if you said, yes, how old is it and when was the last time you used it? Spices lose their flavor and spiciness as they age. So, please go get some fresh Hungarian Paprika for this recipe. Like I've often said before, if you want a quality product, you have to use quality ingredients. Remember the Mai Tai?

By the way, if you lived in Hungary way back when and went to the store, did they call it Hungarian Paprika or just Paprika? Hmmmm…..Oops…squirrel! Back on track now.

Lastly, mix together in a small bowl some cornstarch and water to make a smooth, milky, thick liquid. A tablespoon at a time and about 10-15 minutes in between, add the cornstarch mixture to the Goulash until you have your desired thickness. I don't like it runny nor do I want it thick like a stew. It should look like this:

Lookin' pretty ono already, eh, brah? Yeah, at this point, multiple taste tests may be required, if you know what I mean. And just wait 'till your dinner guests show up and get a whiff of the smell this recipe permeates throughout your home. You'd better have a few spoons handy.

Hungarian Goulash in my family went from something I really couldn't stand as a kid to now, as an adult, a goal of working hard to try and re-create it as my late mother made it when I was growing up. Ironically, it turned out to be "one of those meals" that I requested when I would come home from college or visit after I moved out and lived on my own, traveling the world. No, liver and onions never got to share in that privilege. Even today…"Yuk!"

Well, I hope you enjoyed my adventure back to my childhood and I hope you try the recipe for yourself. While not exactly like I remembered it to be, it's pretty dang close, and maybe even better. Oops, did I just say that out loud. I kind of flinched a bit when I wrote that…had to look around to see if my mother saw it. :) I don't think I'm going to tweak the recipe at all either. Honestly, this was my first attempt at it, and while it took all day to make, adding bits here and there, adjusting spices, and tasting, it's a keeper. Winner winner, Hungarian Goulash dinner!

Hungarian Goulash over Jasmine Rice

Next, I am going to attempt to make my mother's authentic dumplings to go along with this meal. The jasmine rice was great, but the dumplings will make it perfect. I tried to make the dumplings once before and it was a complete mess. My mother happened to be in the hospital when I was back home visiting in the early 90s. My Dad and I actually got her recipe out and gave it a shot. Total failure…there is indeed an art to slinging raw dough into hot boiling water without making a complete mess and one HUGE dumpling. It was not a dumpling night for us, but it was somewhat of a bonding session for the two of us with my mother in the hospital.

I'll definitely post the recipe and instructions for the dumplings here when I can. I should include a video too since, like I mentioned above, there is an art form to making them correctly. Until then, try the Goulash and rice and let me know how you liked it.

Mahalo for Cooking with Captain Bobby Mitchel

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