Thursday, April 11, 2013

Gulaschuppe and a TUSAL

The other night, I was slowly caramelizing some onions and browning beef cubes intending to make some beef curry, when I suddenly thought of Gulaschsuppe, and that sounded a lot more interesting than curry. I asked Michael which he'd prefer, and after a moment's thought we agreed that a nice spicy stew was a good idea.

I have realized that this dish is as close to a 'signature' dish as I've got. The one that my children will remember many years of sitting down to it for dinner.... the one I know will be well received (at least by those who like spicy) at any potluck I might attend.  It is surely the recipe I've been making the longest that I still enjoy eating!

This is a popular German stew/soup - some areas will add peppers to it, others will remove the potatoes and just make it about the beef.  It wouldn't be traditional - but I think sweet potatoes could be happily swapped out for the potatoes.  I already talked about it at length in the entry linked above, so I won't repeat all that, but a couple minor changes this go-round - I used tallow instead of olive oil (it was, simply, what was at hand). I like using tallow to brown beef because it adds a rich, meaty taste and lets the meat brown really well while remaining tender.  I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar when I deglazed  the pot, again, because it was at hand.  It smelled good! I'm not sure if it did anything particularly different from the wine, but everything came out quite rich and hearty.



Here's the recipe again:

Gulaschsuppe
Serves 4-6

2 T. olive oil (or tallow, coconut oil, etc)
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lb beef, cubed into bite sized pieces
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup red wine
6 med thin skinned potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
32 oz beef broth
water
3 bay leaves
2 T. caraway seeds
1 T. hot Hungarian paprika
2 T. sweet Hungarian paprika
1 small can tomato paste

Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is caramelized.  Scrape pot and add beef, browning well .. the crusty bits add to the flavor. (Don't burn.)  Scrape the pot again and add the wine and balsamic vinegar, which will deglaze the pot - let it simmer on low until the wine has almost entirely evaporated.

Add broth, bay leaves, caraway seeds and paprikas, and let simmer for as long as you've got time for... I like to give it at least an hour, but less is fine, as long as you let it cook long enough to tenderize the beef. 

Add potato cubes and enough water to cover plus about 1 inch above, and bring to boil.  When potatoes are tender, add tomato paste, lower to a simmer and let cook for about another 15 minutes.

If you like, give it another splash of wine just before serving.


I also served this with the Grain-Free Biscuits that have become our go-to choice for bread, when we need some.  One a whim, I tossed about a 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese into the batter, and they turned out really moist and delicious that way!

Meanwhile, I'm a day late with this month's New Moon TUSAL (Tptally Useless Stitch-a-long) but still in the zone!  I pushed the threads down a bit, but you can see I've done a bit of stitching since last month's New Moon:

My ort jar, hanging out with a photo of my granddaughter, Hailey and the Easter Bunny.
New Moons are always a great time to star new projects, or to take a concrete action toward a goal. Even if it's something that has languished for awhile, this is the time to make a fresh start, slough off the old baggage, and just do something, already.  This month's New Moon is in Aries - the first sign of the astrological calender, so it's really a new beginning, magnified, and Aries take-charge attitude can be a great motivation to get some progress done on things that have been stalled.  So... make a decision, take the lead, take a step.  It'll lead to some good things!

As for me, we're going to be away for a few days later this month, but other than that, by new project that needs some attending to is some serious Spring cleaning!

Shared with: Daffycat's TUSAL Ort Report
and...
Creative Juice, DIY Accomplished, Fabulously Frugal Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, HomeAcre Hop, Hookin' Up With HoH, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Showcase Your Talent Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Thank Your Body ThursdayThursday Favorite Things, Thursday Treasures, Transformation Thursday.   
Farm Girl Blog Fest, Foodie Friday, Foodtastic Friday, Freedom Fridays, Fresh Bites Friday, Friday Favorites, Frugal Friday, Gluten-Free Friday, LHITS DIY Linky, Old-Fashioned Friday, Pin Me Link Party, Rattlebridge Farm Foodie Friday, Shine On Fridays, Show and Tell Friday, Thrifty Things Friday, What I Am Eating.  
A Favorite Thing, Get Schooled Saturday, Saturday SHOW-licious Craft Showcase, Simply Natural Saturdays, Show & Tell Saturday, Sweet Saturday Link Party, Weekend Show-Off Party.    
Craft-Create-Inspire Link Party, Creative HomeAcre HopSunday School Blog Carnival, Sunday Show-Off Linky Party, Think Pink Sunday.  
Busy Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Frugal Crafty Home, Gluten-Free Monday, Homemade Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Made By You Monday, Make It Yourself Monday, Making Your Home Sing Monday, Manic Monday, Marvelous Monday Mealtime Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mix It Up Monday, Monday Funday, Monday Menu Plan, Mop It Up Monday, Mostly Homemade Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Motivated Monday, Natural Living Monday, Nomday Monday, On the Menu Monday,Thank Goodness It's Monday.
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Eco-Kids Tuesday, Family Table Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Hearth & Soul Hop, Scratch Cookin' Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Time To Sparkle, Totally Tasty Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday.      
Allergy-Free Wednesday, Creative Spark, Down Home Blog Hop, Fluster's Creative Muster, Frugal Days - Sustainable Ways, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Party Wave Wednesday, Show and Tell Wednesday, Two Girls & A Party, Waste Not - Want Not Wednesday,  Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up, Well Fed Wednesday, Wellness Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Wheat-Free Wednesday, Whimsy Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Wildcrafting WednesdayWonderful Food WednesdayWorks For Me Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday





24 comments:

  1. Looks interesting! Visiting fom MHC.

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  2. Looks pretty tasty - as always, thanks so much for the recipe!

    Thanks so much for joining in this week!

    xo
    Claudia

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  3. Yummy! I'll have to try it for my Hubby. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
    xxx Liz

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  4. PS. Can I just use the sweet paprika? Thanks Liz

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    1. Absolutely! When my kids were really small, I'd make a very mild version for them. For awhile, I was dividing it into two pots and spicing them accordingly for the spice lovers, and the mild lovers. This is pretty much Germany's version of chili, with all the individual preferences (and strong opinions) we have about chili in the US. :)

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  5. It sounds so very good. I will save your recipe and make it in the fall. Smiles, Dottie

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  6. Thank you for introducing me to a new recipe. It looks fabulous. I love anything with paprika!

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  7. I am always looking for new soup recipes and yours sounds so tasty. Thanks for sharing it with us!

    Big Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

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  8. What a fabulous bowl of flavor, can't wait to try this recipe. Thank you very much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great week!
    Come Back Soon,
    Miz Helen

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  9. Mmm, looks delicious! I am going to pin this so I can make it when the weather gets cold again.

    Thanks for sharing on Natural Living Monday!

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  10. This stew sounds delicious. I hadn't heard of it before. Just love all the German flavors. Thanks for sharing on Thursdays Treasures.

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  11. It sure looks yummy! I love stew! It makes a nice and hearty meal for during cold winter nights!

    Thanks so much for linking up to the "Making Your Home Sing Monday" linky party today! :)

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  12. Looks very hearty!! So very excited with all the entries this week! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :)

    Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com

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  13. This sounds amazing! We have soup every Monday night. I’ll keep this in mind. Thanks for sharing at the HomeAcre Hop! Look forward to seeing you again tomorrow: http://blackfoxhomestead.com/the-homeacre-hop/

    ~Jenny

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  14. Looks really good! I love trying recipes from other countries! Thanks for posting.

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  15. This looks so good. I've never heard of Gulaschsuppe but I would love to try it.

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  16. My husband and I ate this in Austria a number of years ago and it has become a favorite dish. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
    xx,
    Sherry

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  17. I've never heard of this but it sounds very delicious. Thanks for linking to my Pin Me Party!

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  18. Love paprika... please share this with us on foodie friday today.

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  19. My Omi used to make gulash all the time when I was a kid and it was one of my favorite meals :) Thanks so much for sharing this on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, I’ve pinned it.

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  20. This looks delish! Thanks for sharing this on Wildcrafting Wednesday! Hope to see you again tomorrow for our next hop!
    http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/04/wildcrafting-wednesday-17.html

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  21. This looks delicious and what a warm memory for your children! Thanks for sharing it with us! I hope you join us again today (yeah I know it's a day late... linky issues) at Eco-Kids Tuesday!!

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