Goulash

feeds four

• 1 sweet onion
  
• 2-3 cloves garlic
  
• 5 Lb Roma tomatoes
  
• 6 Bell peppers (red, green)
  

• 2 Lbs stew beef
  
• 10-15 slices bacon (precooked)
  

• a few potatoes
  
• cous-cous or rice
  

• some black pepper
  
• 1 TBsp paprika (mild)
  
• 1 tsp oregano or marjoram
  
• 2-3 bay leaves
  
• beef cube
  
• olive oil
  

• cucumber and/or lettuce (salad mix)
  
• baguette (optional)

1. Wash and cut up a few tomatoes;
   
2. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a large casserole; peel onion, cut through and slice thin; sautee over high heat for a few minutes, add minced garlic, then cook some ten more minutes over medium heat;
3. Pepper and lightly salt beef, add to hot oil and onions, brown while stirring, then add the prepared tomatoes, stir and lower heat;
   
4. Wash, cut up and add remaining tomatoes in batches of three or four, keep at slow boil;
   
5. Add 2-3 bay leaves, 1 TBsp paprika and 1 tsp oregano, cover and stew over low heat (slow bubble) for 2-2½ hours, stirring occasionally - or put in 325°F oven;

   Then, about an hour before serving dinner:

6. Wash and cut up bell peppers, saute shortly over high, then over medium heat till greens turn moss green, about 30-45 minutes, add to stew;
7. Add bacon (rip each strip in three or four pieces) and beef cube to tomatoes;
8. Peel and wash potatoes, cut in bitesize pieces, wash again, bring to a boil in separate pan and cook for 13-14 minutes, then add to tomato/beef stew;
9. Prepare cous-cous or rice;
10. Prepare cucumber and/or lettuce.
11. Add sauteed Bell peppers to stew, heat a few minutes more

12. Serve over cous-cous or rice; a baguette is nice to sop it up when it's soupy (as it's supposed to be.) A powerful red wine also goes well with it.

This dish originated in Hungary ("gulyas"); long a staple food in the German army, the soldiers still refer to its vast cooking pots as Goulashkanone (Goulash Guns.)

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Your chef: Marco Schuffelen - email