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Grandpa’s Goulash Recipe

This has to be my favorite meal of all time.  It is a truly hearty meal that will satisfy any appetite, thanks to a recipe I inherited through my grandfather, Frank Alster.

You will need a large cooking pot with a heavy lid to cook this in, as well as a mesh herb/tea ball.  Serves approximately 4-6 people.

Ingredients:

• 1-1.5 lbs cubed stew meat (roughly 2" x 2" x 2" cuts)
• 4oz. can of tomato sauce
• 5-7 whole cloves
• 3-5 whole bay leaves
• 3 tbsp table salt
• 1 white onion
• 2 peeled Russet potatoes (use 3 if you have a big enough pot)
• 3 chopped carrots
• 1 stalk of celery
• 3 cups chopped green beans
• 3 chopped carrots
• full pkg of egg noodles
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup of butter or margarine (1 stick)

Start by browning the meat in a pan on med-high heat.  Make sure all sides of the meat are browned.  Strain fat grease.

In large cooking pot, add tomato sauce,  salt, chopped onion, and the mesh tea ball containing the cloves and bay leaves.  Add browned meat and enough water to almost submerge the meat.  Cover tightly.

Keep a very gentle simmer for ~2.5 hours to tenderize the meat.  Longer is usually better.

Meanwhile, skin and cut potatoes into ~3" cubes.  Don't make them too small or you will end up with a mushy goulash.  Then chop your carrots, green beans, and celery.

Note: this is by far the trickiest part of this recipe - cooking the potatoes, carrots, and veggies so they all are just cooked just right in the end.  We want the potatoes to be a little soft, but not definitely not mashed.

T+2.5 hours: Add the potatoes, and the carrots 5-10 minutes later.  Use your best judgement.

T+3.0 hours: Add the celery and green beans, adding water as necessary.  The veggies should not be fully submerged, but they should be at least touching the water.

Continue to simmer gently for ~1 hour,  until the meat is easily falling apart and/or the potatoes are beginning to soften.  I usually add more salt towards the end, but would advise against it for people with heart problems: this meal does contain a bit of sodium.

Remember that the pot will continue to cook for ~20-30 minutes after you take it off the heat, so don't be afraid to remove from the heat a little early.

Now, boil the egg noodles (this will take about 15 minutes and will allow the goulash to finish cooking, removed from heat)

Melt our butter in a frying pan on medium heat and add the bread crumbs.  Toss the bread crumbs in the butter and fry until they are lightly browned. Take care not to over-brown or burn them.

To serve:

Generously sprinkle the fried bread crumbs over a large plate of egg noodles.  Ladle 2-3 servings of the stew on top of the noodles.  Do not shy away from the liquid - most of it will evaporate.

Enjoy this fine German dish! :)