Viennese Beef Goulash/Wiener Rindsgulasch

Viennese Cuisine: the Next Foodie Craze

MATTHEW0 COMMENTSFROM THE LUNCH BOX, RECIPES

Feb 08

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Our Finished Plate

A special thanks to the good folks at WENNIESAFFAIRS.COM for the inspiration for this blog post

My friend Scoots found himself in need of a new apartment. After sending out an email announcing he’d be having a housewarming party on Feb 18th, I replied back, “Does this mean we won’t be seeing you until mid-February?”

No reply.

That’s because he is so busy running his own company that he basically only texts now. This modern technology thing has gotten waaaay out of hand. But after three days of texting back and forth, it became clear that he had moved into his new place ages ago, hadn’t really unpacked, and frankly, needed a hot meal and someone to help him put the giant, heavy top on the base of the dining room table and begin unpacking tons of shipping boxes. A cold January night seemed like the perfect opportunity to help out.

Friends Don't Let Friends Unpack Alone

So I texted that he should pick something he’d like to have me make and then we’d cook it on the new stove in his rental. Turned out he secured a unit with a gas stove, and it was a fine kitchen for making bread dumplings. I mean, really! Who asks for Austrian Goulash and Bread Dumplings!?

Scoots has a penchant for that sort of hearty meal, probably because he’s an amateur competitive swimmer, so he can really work up an appetite. I usually can only bring myself to walk to and from the car, so I was less than compelled to make such a huge meal, but onward and upward I always say. I never make Germanic cuisine, and frankly, with THE SUDDEN RISE OF THE SCANDINAVIAN RESTAURANTS AND CUISINE, I figure Germany/Austria/Hungary are next on the food writers’ “discovery” tour, so I decided to get a jump on the competition.

Goulash & Bread Dumplings Tableside with a barley/carrot side

So, let me be the first to announce: German/Austrian/Hungarian cuisine is the next big thing. You read it here first.

At any rate, a few texts later, and I was off to the store to purchase what I needed for…

Viennese Beef Goulash/Wiener Rindsgulasch

Ingredients for the Goulash

3 T Olive Oil

1 ¾-2 lbs. shoulder or shank (beef cubed for stew, basically)

1 c finely chopped onions

1 T fresh chopped garlic

2 T tomato purée

2 T Hungarian paprika

1 t freshly ground caraway seeds (use a mortar and pestle for the best results)

1 t marjoram

2 bay leafs

2 c stock (I used chicken, but you could probably use beef as well)

freshly ground salt and pepper

zest of ½ lemon

Heat the oil, brown the beef. With a slotted spoon, remove the beef, brown the onions. At the end of the browning, toss in the garlic. Grind the caraway seed and marjoram. Add the ground spices, paprika, and tomato purée directly into the pot with all of the stock. Stir well, add salt and pepper to taste, grate in the zested lemon as the stock comes to a boil. Turn down to a simmer once it reaches a boil. Let the goulash simmer slowly until the meat is soft (approximately 1-2 hours, depending on the meat/fat content ratio).

At the end of the cooking, you will have a liquidy soup. This liquid may have boiled off a bit, so you can feel free to add in more stock, if you need to in order to make the dumplings, and in so doing, thickening the goulash.

Scoots can attest that it was a real wintery treat. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have been out hunting rabbit in the Tyrolian hillsides, opening the cabin door, dusting off the powdered snow from our boots, and sitting down to a piping hot bowl of this treat.

Oddly, this meaty bowl serves really nicely with crisp, fresh greens.

Dressing the Salad

Since I’m accused of making blog posts that are faaaaar toooooo long, I’m going to save the bread dumpling recipe for tomorrow, so see you again back here. Same bat time; same bat channel.