My mom made a pretty authentic goulash in certain respects.  In certain other respects it wasn’t really goulash at all.  I’m now making something somewhere in between.

The Hungarians would make a sort of soup called goulash and serve that with or over cubed boiled potatoes.  The Germans like a thicker version and serve that over spaetzle.  My mom used elbow macaroni.  I have a spaetzle maker but usually just reach for a nice orzo lately.

My mom used a combination of tomato juice and tomatoes.  I skip the juice.  Feel free to include some to make a thinner version.  You could also add chicken stock to take it more into the soup dimension.  My mom used stewed tomatoes but I use just diced.

My mom used ground beef, but I’ve gone more traditional here and cube nice beef and brown that.

Finally, my mom didn’t use paprika (I know!) and I use a lot.  If I can brown the beef and saute the onions over fire I use Hungarian sweet, but if I can’t I use Spanish smoked paprika instead.  Or maybe a combination.  I’m not too picky about this detail.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef (browned)
• 2 large onions (sauted but not browned)
• 1 T garlic (optional)
• tomatoes (2 cans of Muir Glen diced is typical for me)
• salt and pepper
• ¼ paprika (yes, a lot)

Directions:

• brown beef and set aside
• saute onions in whatever fat remains, scrap up the bits, and let them go translucent (take your time)
• add everything into the pot (except the pasta) and let that simmer for a long while, relax
• cook the pasta you chose (or potatoes or make spaetzle)
• you can combine the starch and sauce together and server or serve portions (I usually combine in the pasta just prior to serving time so it’s a one pot stop)

That’s it.  Basic.  Easy.  Fucking delicious.

My mom makes chocolate zucchini bread.  Well, she did when we were kids.  I don’t think they eat so much dessert foods now that we’re grown.  Regardless, I asked her to send me the old recipe.  The poor card has seen better days!

I’ll do my best to get those interpreted correctly here.

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ C flour (unsifted)
• 2 C sugar
• ½ C cocoa [presumably Dutch processed but certainly powder]
• 3 eggs
• 2 ½ t baking powder
• 2 t vanilla
• 1 ½ t [baking] soda
• 2 t orange peel (grated) [zest]
• 1 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 2 C zucchini (shredded)
• ¾ C butter or margarine [seriously, butter though]
• ½ C milk
• [ewe] 1 C pecans or walnuts (chopped) [No nuts!  obviously optional]

Directions:

• Pour [something] greased and floured [something] [maybe cake] pan or Bundt pan
• [over]
• Bake 350° for 1 hr
• Cool in pan for 15 min
• Turn out on wire rack
• Cool thoroughly
• Glaze

Glaze:

• 2 C powdered sugar
• 3 T milk
• 1 t vanilla

I have no specific memory have actually eating it, but I know we greatly enjoyed doing so.

Enjoy!

My neighbor is a hunter and a fisher which has been a boon for my access to random unexpected proteins.  We were talking the other day about the jerky he makes (nearly all of his goose breast ends this way).  He uses a recipe from a friend of his and I told him I could post it to my blog so it would be easier for him to find.  So, here it is.

• 3T coarse salt
• 1C brown sugar
• 1C water
• 3/4C soy sauce
• 3/4C Worcestershire sauce
• 2T garlic
• 2T chili powder
• 3T ground (black) pepper
• 2T (red) pepper flakes

I am going to try it out at some point.  From there I will likely play with it and see what works for me.  Anyway, perhaps it will be a good starting point for you as well.

Enjoy!