Hungarian Beef Stew (aka Goulash)

I am glad to report that my sweet husband made me goulash. My recent trip to Eastern Europe has left me obsessed with Hungarian food - particularly with goulash, chicken paprikish and chimney cakes. We found a recipe for goulash in one of our favorite cookbooks, America's Test Kitchen: The Complete TV Show Cookbook. They call it Hungarian Beef Stew, but it's the same thing. 

Hungarian Beef Stew

Source: click here for the complete recipe from America's Test Kitchen.
Servings: 5-6

America's Test Kitchen found that Hungarian chef's use a condiment called paprika cream in much of their cooking. It's hard to find in the states, so they made their own version for this recipe.

Combine tomato paste, sweet paprika roasted red peppers and vinegar in food processor. I actually bought sweet paprika in Budapest, so we used that.

Mix in food processor for 1-2 minutes until it looks something like this.

Combine onions, oil and salt and cook for 8-10 minutes until onions have softened. Stir in paprika mixture and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add carrots, bay leaves and beef.

Stir until beef is well coated. Cover the pot and transfer to oven. Cook until meat is tender, about 2 to 2 1/2 hrs. Stir every 30 minutes. You should begin to see more liquid as the stew cooks.

Make 1 cup beef broth and add to stew. Cook for another 30 minutes.

Stir in the sour cream and take out the bay leaves. Quick Note: The sour cream is optional. Not for me though! Growing up in the Gomez family, sour cream was never optional. We put it on almost anything! The more sour cream the better.

Serve over boiled potatoes or egg noodles. We choose egg noodles.

I was one happy chica when all was said and done. The stew was packed with flavor. Especially after a few days in the fridge. We could really taste the peppers and paprika. The beef was very tender, the fork easily slipped right in and out. We will definitely make this again!