The hearty Beef Goulash is a perfect dish for the cooler winter nights. Most times when I make this dish I make sure that there is plenty. This stew is perfectly suited to freeze or keep in the fridge for a few days. Serve with rice, home made bread or mashed potatoes and a salad and you have a second meal.

Serves: 4 | Preparation: 20 min | Cooking time 2,5 hours

Who connected us?!  Growing up in the Netherlands, where it is cold two thirds of the year, we often ate hearty dishes that warm the body and soul. Most often served with mashed potatoes, it is still one of my favourite winter dishes.

Ingredients:

Instructions

1. Cut the meat in 1cm cubes.
2. Slice the onion and finely chop the chillies and garlic.
3. Coat the meat with the flour.
4. Take a large heavy based pot and put it over medium heat with half the butter.
5. When the butter is hot, add the meat cubes and fry until the meat is browned on all sides. You can do this in batches if your sauce-pan is not big enough. Take out the beef and set aside.
6. In the same pot, add the rest of the butter and fry the onions until they are light brown.
7. Add the garlic and chillies and fry for another 2 minutes.
8. Add the tomato paste and fry for 2 minutes. Heating the tomato paste takes away its acidity.
9. Don’t worry about the bits sticking to the bottom of the pan. This will come off later when stewing the meat and it adds lot’s of flavour to the dish.

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Stewing

1. Return the beef to the pan.
2. Add the sweet paprika powder, the diced tomato, red wine and beef stock.
3. Finely chop the parsley stalks and add to the stew.
4. Salt and Pepper to taste.
5. Stir to combine and let the beef simmer for about 2,5 hours, until tender.
6. Garnish with sour cream and chopped parsley leaves.

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Goulash originated in Hungary. Goulash or gulyás originally is a soup made from beef and vegetables, flavoured with spices like paprika. Goulash is still the national dish of Hungary and a symbol of the country. Like with so many dishes, Goulash has endless variations, family recipes that have been shared and changed over the years. Goulash origins go back to the 9th century when shepherds took cooked, flavoured and dried meat with them on their prolonged travels. They only had to add boiled water to create their meal.

My dish is by no means the traditional version and my recipe is more like a stew rather than a soup.

Notes:

• Cumin and caraway; Cumin or caraway spices can be a nice addition to this dish.
• Vegetables; You can add potatoes, carrots or other roots to this dish to incorporate more healthy veggies. Chop the vegetables
• Flour; The coating of the beef with flour helps thickening the sauce.
• What to serve with Beef Goulash?; An easy option to serve with goulash is rice. Other options are mashed potatoes and a salad or a home made Sourdough Bread or German Style Rye Bread
• What is the best cut of meat for Goulash?; Slow cooking is mostly done with beef from muscles that have been working hard. The hard working muscles like chuck or oyster blade are to tough to serve as a steak, but they are very flavoursome. Goulash is best made from chuck steak or oyster blade. Names of slow cooking meat vary by country. Ask you butcher what meat is best.
• Why is it called Goulash?; The name goulash is derived from the Hungarian name gulyás.
• What country does Goulash originate from?; Goulash originated in Hungary as far back as the 9th century when Shepherds took cooked, flavoured dried meat at their travels. Today there are many variation of this stewed meat dish. Most countries developed their own style.