Hungarian Stew-lash

Growing up I despised stews. It wasn't the fault of the stew but the stewmaker. Venison was used instead of beef meaning the meat was both dry and tough, hunks of meat where always too large to chew, potatoes and carrots were either over done or worse under done, if the stew contained tomatoes they were always extra large as tomatoes were never cut smaller than quarters, and the stew sauce was bland. It wasn't until just a few short years ago I started to appreciate the wonderful, full of flavor possibilities of a good stew. Since then I have attempted several stews but none quite so utterly fantastic as Hungarian Goulash.

Modifications Made:

I am sure it has been mentioned before but in case you are new or in case you forgot, petite diced tomatoes replaced diced tomatoes as I don't like large chunks of tomatoes in anything. Not stew, not salads, and especially not spaghetti sauce. If there were tomatoes smaller than petite diced, they would be used instead.

Both of the Optional Ingredients were added. One because every single picture showcased included both ingredients and two because a stew of just beef and tomatoes sounded gross.

Scaled for Likability: Great

A goulash it was not as it lacked ground beef and noodles but instead it was more along the lines of a traditional American stew. A stew-lash. An utterly FAN-TAS-TIC stew-lash! No, this is not an exaggeration as everyone at the table loved Hungarian Stew-lash from the first bite. Two bowlfuls later, each of us were miserable yet wanting more.

Thicker than normal stew from the flour and seasoned with the bare minimum of flavors, the stew was rich and deep in flavor filled with tender bits of beef and perfectly bite size vegetables well suited to soak up the heavy paprika seasonings.

What made this recipe not an American stew was the use of the paprika, specifically the Hungarian paprika. When you make this, and you will make this straight away, DO NOT substitute or skimp or omit the Hungarian paprika. It truly is the KEY ingredient to this stew-lash. Omit the potatoes, omit the carrots, hell omit the tomatoes, but do not omit the Hungarian paprika.

Oh, and one other tip. Make sure you have a large loaf of fluffy French bread to soak up the savory stew juices. This is one of those stew/soups that would be most excellent if served in a bread soup bowl. And as with all good soups/stew, it gets better and better every day it sits in the fridge.

Editor's Note: Today's dish is not exactly new as it was served once before just before the start of this blog back in October. In making this dish today for the second time, not a single modification was made to the meal with exception to the addition of French bread.

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Cold Corn Bean Salsa

Nothing says junk food like chips and salsa, chips and cheese dip, chips and guacamole. Over the years I have perfected my salsa. It's good on tacos, on nachos, on enchiladas, and of course on chips. Just because I have the best salsa doesn't mean I don't like to try new salsa's like this Best Black Bean and Corn Salsa. Modifications Made: Shoepeg corn was replaced with one can of standard yellow corn with no salt added. Petite diced tomatoes were reduced by half. Italian dressing was swapped for half teaspoon comino, half teaspoon of chili powder, and two tablespoon of fresh lime juice. Salsa was made and let rest for two hours before eating. Scaled for Likability: Good Salsa this was not. Good it was however. It was too much for chips by themselves but was great served over a soft beef taco.

Eating Waffles

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