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" 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
- 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, two cups water, salt, chopped onion, the mesh tea ball containing the cloves and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
Add browned meat and enough water to almost submerge the meat. Reduce heat to low, 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 ~2" 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. Use your best judgement.
T+2 hours 30 minutes: Add the potatoes and carrots at the same time.
T+2 hours 40 minutes: 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 liquid.
Continue to simmer gently for ~1 hour, until the potatoes are beginning to soften. I usually add more salt towards the end, but be forewarned: this meal can quickly become high in sodium, as the salt brings out the flavor incredibly. You may opt for salting your dish rather than the pot itself.
Remember that the pot will continue to cook for ~20 minutes after you take it off the heat, so don't be afraid to remove from the heat a little early. If the green beans or carrots are still snappy, continue to cook and check every 5 minutes until they are fully cooked.
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. Pay very close attention -- they will over-brown and/or burn quickly; these will ruin the entire dish so if you do over-brown them, toss the bread crumbs and start over.
To serve:
Generously sprinkle the fried bread crumbs over a large plate of egg noodles. Ladle 2-3 servings of the goulash on top of the noodles. Do not shy away from the liquid as most of it will evaporate.
Enjoy this fine German dish! :)
Please send feedback via comments, I'd love to hear how your goulash turned out!
