Goulash is one of the dishes that you learn in home economics but never seem to get around to serving up to the family.
Goulash is one of the dishes that you learn in home economics but never seem to get around to serving up to the family. I think I last made this way back in 1979 at Great Yarmouth tech! However, as the nights draw in, with thoughts of Halloween and bonfire night on the horizon, this is an ideal dish, a hearty beef stew with the spice of warming paprika. Served with boiled potatoes or boiled rice and a big bowl of bashed autumn roots, I’m sure it will hit the spot.
It’s a classic Hungarian dish, sometimes served as a thinner, almost gruel style, soup, and has graced the tables of royalty for many years. I’m using the fashionable cut of beef cheek for this stew, but shin works a treat too - the longer and slower you can cook it the better, so it’s ideal for putting in a slow cooker first thing and then enjoying early evening.
With the barbecues safely packed away, we can start to use some the cheaper cuts of meat, and this is where your local independent butcher will really come into its own. Rarely do you see cheek, oxtail, shin and skirt in on a supermarket shelf, but the inclement weather demands we seek out these types of old fashioned cuts. Luckily we are truly blessed with butchers here in the county – we all have our favourites!
Beef goulash
2tbsp vegetable oil
700g beef cheek, or stewing steak, cut into chunks
30g plain flour
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper
2tbsp paprika
4 tablespoons chopped plum tomatoes
75ml red wine
300ml beef stock, home-made or shop-bought, or water
2tbsp thyme
Black pepper
150ml soured cream
2 spring onions
Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3
1 Cut the beef cheeks, or stewing steak into chunks.
2 Dust with the flour.
3 Add the paprika.
4 Heat one tablespoon of oil in a casserole dish or heavy-based frying pan. Fry the beef and brown well, in batches.
5 Set aside the browned meat. Add the remaining oil to the hot pan.
6 Slice the onion and pepper, and chop the garlic.
7 Add the onion, garlic and red pepper to the casserole dish and fry until softened, around five minutes. Return the beef to the pan.
8 Add the thyme.
9 Add any of the remaining flour and paprika mix.
10 Add the tomatoes.
11 Pour in the red wine.
12 Season with salt and black pepper.
13 Add the stock or water. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for at least two hours 30 minutes, the longer and slower the better. When the beef is tender, finish the stew with the sour cream and chopped spring onions.
