Cattle drives in the Middle Ages drove thousands of animals over great distances. One unlucky steer usually never arrived.
He was eaten along the way.
The name “goulash” originates from the Hungarian “gulyås” which means herdsman, a beef stew made by a herdsman on a drive.
Our WesternBEEF offers very well priced stewing beef. Fry some smoked bacon fairly hard to render all the fat.
Salt and pepper the beef and then dredge it in flour.
Remove the bacon and add the floury beef to the hot bacon fat, and sear the meat on all sides.
Cook it hard and take your time to get a good brownish-black crust all over.
Peel some carrots and onions while your meat is browning. Clean and coarsely chop some flat parsley, too, plus fresh thyme and way too much garlic.
When the meat has browned and it’s really hot, dump in a cup or two of red wine to slow things down, scrape the bottom then add a rich stock from your freezer.
Melt the stock down into the bubbling beef and wine.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
A true goulash calls for paprika, hot red pepper, fennel or caraway seed and lots of bayleaf.
As things soften and cook down, stir and cover with a tight fitting lid and turn the heat down to a slow simmer. Stir it every now and then. In about 3 hours it will look like this.
Top it up with more wine if the liquid cooks down and make up a batch of flat, egg noodles for the classic goulash carb.
Yum. This is a wonderful stew with European flair that fills your loft with rich aroma.
Go Hungary this winter. :-)
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