Time Stretcher Recipe
This is a Central Europe classic. While the traditional recipes for goulash generally only call for salt, paprika, and pepper as seasonings, it is unusual to not find a "secret" recipe spice blend in every home and restaurant. Enjoy our family secret blend.
To make this in a slow cooker please see our Cooking Tips and Techniques section.
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3 tbsp Chef Nick’s Hungarian Goulash Blend.
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2 lbs stewing beef cut into 1-inch chunks.
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4 large SHARP onions, sliced.
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6 oz can tomato paste.
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½ cup red wine.
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2 tsp cornstarch (optional).
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1-2 cups good quality beef stock (optional).
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Sunflower or canola oil as needed for sauté.
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In a stew pot heat small amount of oil over medium heat. Lightly brown the meat on all sides. Remove the meat to a plate.
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Add more oil, if needed, to the pot and sweat the onions until they begin to soften.
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Add 3 tbsp of the Goulash Blend to the onions, stir, then add the wine and tomato paste. Using a wooden spatula scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot mixing it into the onion.
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Return the meat and any juices from the plate back into the pot, stir to evenly distribute the meat through the onions.
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Cover the pot, reduce heat to low and stirring occasionally, simmer for several hours until the onions dissolve and the meat is falling-apart tender. If the mixture becomes dry during cooking, add hot water half a cup at a time.
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In the unlikely event that the meat and onions did not produce enough liquid, at the end of cooking add hot stock as needed with the cornstarch whisked into it— but use as little as needed for sauce.
Tip: for a one pot meal, add cut up potatoes to the pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
This is usually very simply served with a good crusty bread or dumplings.