Saturday, February 02, 2008

Hearty Goulash Soup

I was looking through my copy of the Gourmet Cookbook for a good soup and found a recipe for Goulash Soup. Goulash is a dish from Hungary made with beef, onions and paprika.
The authors said that they first had a bowl of the soup while driving down the Autobahn in Austria. No doubt they were driving very fast and wasting all sorts of gas. I'd like to drive on the Autobahn but I couldn't even afford to go to Mexico.

I know someone who was born in Hungary and from a huge line of Hungarians. To be more precise, she is actually from Transylvania! Can you guess who this famous Transylvanian is:


Hearty Goulash Soup

3 slices of bacon
1 1/2 pounds beef trimmed into 1/2 inch cubes
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T paprika
3/4 t caraway seeds
1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
2 T tomato paste
2 1/2 cups beef broth
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 t salt
1 red bell pepper finely chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Brown bacon in a dutch oven. Remove from heat and crumble, leaving bacon behind. Brown the beef in the grease and transfer to a bowl. Reduce heat and add a little oil. Saute the onions and garlic. Add in the paprika, caraway and flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Whisk in the vinegar and tomato paste and cook fore another minute. Stir in stock, salt, bell pepper, beef and bacon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Finally add the potatoes, cover and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Suggested listening music? What else but Kraftwerk - Autobahn!