Friday, October 30, 2009

FOOD FRIDAY!


PORK GOULASH

I'm making time today to get this into the queue so I won't forget to tell you about it. It's a real winner that I had tucked away for a good 25 years before I ever even tried it, just last week. (One more reminder that it pays to go off the beaten path and try something "new." Obviously, since I had gone to the trouble of collecting the recipe in the first place, I must have thought it had possibilities. I just never got around to making it.)

Once I decided to post the recipe, I had to figure out a good name for it. I collected it as "Rindfleisch und Schweinenfleish-Gulasch" but that seemed pompous, and besides, "Rindfleisch" is beef, and I left the beef out. I thought about "Hungarian-Style Pork Stew," but "goulash" is a word everybody knows (and it was part of the original name), so that's what I settled on.

Goulash is usually served over buttered egg noodles, but I put it on mashed potatoes and it was scrumptious. Do whatever you want!

2 lbs. pork shoulder, cut into cubes for stew
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Hungarian paprika (smoked, if you can find it)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 15-oz. can mushrooms stems and pieces, undrained
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
6 thyme sprigs, tied in a bundle
salt and pepper
10 oz. frozen peas
1 cup sour cream (can be low-fat but not nonfat)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat oil in a dutch oven until shimmering. Add pork in batches so it is not crowded, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, and brown thoroughly on all sides. Set meat aside as it is browned. Add third tablespoon of oil to same dutch oven, then add onions and carrots and stir until they begin to deglaze the pan and turn brown. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant.

Sprinkle paprika over onions and carrots and stir to coat vegetables, then sprinkle flour over all and stir to combine. Add the broth, the wine, the mushrooms with their liquid and the Worcestershire and cook, scraping bottom of pan to completely deglaze, until sauce begins to simmer and thicken. Stir in thyme bundle, along with reserved pork and any accumulated juices. Cover pan tightly (using foil between lid and pan if necessary) and bake in oven for 2 hours or until pork is fork tender.

Remove goulash from oven and set on rack. Remove remains of thyme bundle. Stir in peas, cover, and allow them to cook in the hot sauce for 10 minutes. Just before serving, stir in sour cream and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle parsley evenly over all and serve over mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles.

12 comments:

nan said...

All is right in the world today . . . there's a FOOD FRIDAY on Ralph's blog! Looks yummy.

Cuidado said...

That sounds delicious but I want to check something. Is it really one quarter cup of paprika and what is Hungarian paprika? Is it the same as regular paprika?

Ralph said...

I'm going to try, Nan! Just made a very cool black bean and carrot salad for a Halloween party our new neighbors are throwing (get it? Black and orange salad?) that turned out delicious so I'm going to try to post that next week.

Ralph said...

Yeah, Cuidado, it's really a quarter cup. It's not hot, not bitter--it gives a sweet flavor. Hungarian paprika is usually the best, but the same paprika you sprinkle on your deviled eggs will do.

Peewit said...

I would be inclined to use smoked paprika and fresh mushrooms rather than the can. I presume using mushroom ketchup diluted would serve to introduce the mushroom liquid bit of it. I shall try this one this week and If I remember Ill report back (if I can get anywhere near the computer now that teenage daughter is facebooking etc all hours of the day!

Ralph said...

Peewit, I've discovered word games on Facebook and am afraid I'm spending more time there than I ever meant to, myself!

You're right on both counts re: ingredients. Smoked paprika would add a lot of flavor--it's jsut jard for me to find where I am now, and when I collected the recipe all those years ago, it wasn't that well known in the States.

And by all means I would normally default to fresh mushrooms, but adding their liquor does help with the mushroom flavor.

Peewit said...

Well I tried it but due to being distracted I managed to omit the flour and the garlic, had only single cream and forgot to put noodles on to accompany it! So we really had pork goulash soup. The taste was yummy but it was very thin. General consensus was that it was yummy but i was told TO FOLLOW THE RECIPE next time!

Ralph said...

HAHAHA! You were distracted, Peewit, to leave out those key ingredients--at least you remembered the paprika! Oh well. Thanks for the attempt.

Anonymous said...

YAY Food Friday. I thought we were lost on our weekend help list for foods. This is a nice break from the beef and chicken. Will try this weekend. I don't check in with your blog too often now and am happy to see the Food Friday up again. How's the house project coming along? Must be close to a build out and trim by now.

Ralph said...

I'm really sporadic these days, Z&M--maybe you should just subscribe so you don't miss the occasional post when it does come. (I was going to feature another recipe I made last week but forgot to take the picture!)

Drywall installation is in the final stages this week--spackling and finish work still to come. Septic tank and field will be dug next week. Looking at occupancy sometime in February, the buildr is saying.

Anonymous said...

I don't use Google as a homepage so where on your blog can someone subscribe? Like my blog, a box that you can join and get notice in your email daily of updates?

Ralph said...

Z&M, go down the left margin of the blog, just under "music blogs truly worth the visit." You'll see "subscribe to." Click on "posts." You'll get a dropdown menu. I and several others use bloglines. You join it for free, tell it the URLs of the blogs you want to follow, and then download a little gadget that'll show up on your toolbar. Whenever a blog is updated, it will show you. Depending on your OS, you may also get an audio signal when there's an update.

Simple app, safe--there are other subscription services but that's the one I know.