Recipe: Hungarian Goulash

Recipes title

Hungarian Goulash

Goulash

Serving Size: 8
Preparation Time: 3:00

Ingredients

5 lb beef shin—diced Large
1/2 cup paprika—Hungarian KingRed
4 each onions, large—diced
2 heads garlic—peel and diced
1 cup fat from top of brown stock—melted
8 each potatoes Idaho, peeled and diced—90 ct—8 oz ea
2 1/2 qt stock brown
s&p—to taste

Preparation

Cut shin beef in large dice, as large as 2 inches square.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large roast pan roll the beef in paprika, generously coating all surfaces. Push it to one side.
Add the diced onions and garlic, and coat them too.
Add melted fat from the brown stock, and toss all to coat well. There should be just one layer deep, so that everything can brown evenly.
Place in oven and allow to brown, stirring from time to time so that all surfaces color. Adjust oven heat as required to keep from burning, but don't let it be too cool or the meat will sweat out its juices. You should be able to hear the meat "singing softly in the pan." (A slight sizzling sound)
When the meat is brown, transfer it to a heavy pot, and add the peeled diced potatoes. Cover with brown stock, and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, cut to a simmer. As fat and scum rise to the surface, skim it off from time to time. Stir gently from time to time. note: You could do the same in the oven, if the roast pan is deep enough, but evaporation is more rapid, so you will need to keep a pot of hot stock to replenish with.
When the meat is tender the potatoes will have rounded edges, where originally square. What ever thickening has taken place is what you want. This benifits from overnight refrigeration, so that the fat rises and forms a cap on the top. It will be bright orange, and is very nice for sauté'ing veal cutlets and the like. I like to grind onions and garlic and mix it with this fat to 'paint' chickens before roasting. The point is that this fat is very nice, everywhere but in the goulash. Remove it.
Naturally, before serving, you will want to reseason it, salt first. If you used KingRed Hungarian paprika, I doubt you will want more pepper, unless you are a real chili head.
Serve this on top of buttered noodles or spaetzle.

Suggested Wine: Red Zinfandel or Beer

Notes: A very full bodied red wine will stand up to this dish. Wines that might be considered tannic otherwise will taste wonderful.