Warm Up With a Hearty Goulash Soup from ‘Winter Cabin Cooking’
This week, we’re spotlighting recipes from Winter Cabin Cooking: Dumplings, Fondue, Strudel, Glühwein, and Other Fireside Feasts by Lizzie Kamenetzky (Ryland Peters & Small), a British food stylist and writer and a former food editor for U.K. food magazine, delicious. Try making the recipe at home and let us know what you think!
Photo: Nassima Rothacker
Goulash Soup
Serves 6
This Hungarian dish spread into the mountains, where it is always popular in the huts and cabins as a hearty meal on the slopes and trails. There is a healthy kick of paprika with the added richness of sour cream, which helps to make this one of the most warming and comforting dishes. This is also delicious made with pork instead of beef – use a slow-cook cut such as shoulder/butt and cut it into large chunks.
Olive oil, to fry
100 g/3 3⁄4 ounces smoked streaky/fatty bacon, finely chopped
1 kg/2 1⁄4 pounds braising steak or beef shin, cut into 2.5 cm/1 inch chunks
2 heaped tablespoons plain/all-purpose flour
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 red peppers/bell peppers, deseeded and sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
5 juniper berries, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
1⁄2 tablespoon hot paprika
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons tomato purée/paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1.2 liters/5 cups beef stock
300 g/11 ounces waxy potatoes, cut into chunks
2 beetroot/beets, cut into chunks
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Freshly chopped parsley and sour cream, to serve
Heat a good layer of olive oil in a flameproof casserole or large saucepan and fry the bacon over a medium heat until starting to color. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Dust the beef in the flour with plenty of seasoning, then brown in batches over a high heat in the same pan, adding more oil if necessary. Remove and set aside with the bacon.
Add a little more oil to the pan and add the onions and peppers/bell peppers. Fry for 10 minutes until softened and the onions start to color. Add the garlic, juniper, bay, and spices, and fry for a few minutes before adding the tomato purée/paste, vinegar, and stock.
Return the beef and bacon to the pan and season well. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 2–2 1⁄2 hours until the beef is starting to become really tender.
Add the potatoes and beetroot/beets to the pan and simmer, with the lid off, until the vegetables are tender.
Stir in the parsley and serve in large warmed bowls with generous dollops of sour cream.
Reprinted with permission from Winter Cabin Cooking: Dumplings, Fondue, Strudel, Glühwein, and Other Fireside Feasts by Lizzie Kamenetzky (Ryland Peters & Small).
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