Showing posts with label red wine blend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label red wine blend. Show all posts

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Hungarian Goulash and Heartthrob #JakeRyan


I am a girl of the 80's.  My high school years were in the 80's and it was truly I think the best of times.  Great movies, great music and you cannot forget the really great big hair (and shoulder pads of course).

It was a time when teenagers actually talked on the phone and had conversations.  There was no Twittering, texting, tagging in photos or hash-tagging.  I'm embarrassed to say that I am still not completely clear on the whole # (hash-tagging) thing. Nonetheless, I am working my way through it with two teenagers.

I was happy to see last weekend was an 80's movie marathon, complete with Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles.  I learned that neither one of my girls had never seen either of these movies...how sad is that?

It was my duty as their mother - you cannot go your whole life without seeing these two classics.  It was just us girls home and we snuggled in with our pajamas and I got to relive the 80's all over again...and Jake Ryan.

What girl from that decade could forget the infamous Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles.  Every girl dreamed of meeting someone like Jake for their 16th birthday and having a prince charming sweep them off their feet (with his red Porsche).

Our 80's hunk, Jake Ryan.
My work here was done - girls loved the movies and Jake Ryan.

In feeling nostalgic this weekend, I was craving my sister-in-law Cathy's family recipe of Hungarian Goulash. Just to show how old this recipe is, she sent it to me on a fax machine in 1998 before our kids were born, before e-mail and way before tweeting.


Hungarian Goulash
Courtesy of Cathy

2 pounds top sirloin, cut into 1" - 2" chunks
1 white onion, chopped in 1/4" chunks
1 whole orange pepper, cut in 1/2" chunks
1 whole yellow pepper, cut in 1/2" chunks
olive oil
salt to taste
flour to coat
2 cans beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
1 small can tomato paste
Hungarian Paprika

In crockpot pour in beef broth, diced tomatoes in juice, red wine and tomato paste - stir well.

In a skillet add olive oil, simmer the onions and peppers until soft.  Remove from skillet and add to the sauce in crockpot.

In same skillet that vegetables were cooked, add the sirloin (dusted in flour first).  Brown meat and season with salt and pepper.  Do not cook meat all the way through, just get a nice crust on it, as it will continue cooking all day in crock pot.

Add the browned meat to the crockpot and mix into the sauce.  Add enough paprika so the stew turns reddish.

Cook in crockpot on low for 8-10 hours.  The longer it cooks, the better it is.

I served it over cooked egg noodles, coated in a little sour cream.  You can also serve the goulash over dumplings, spaetzle, gnocchi or mashed potatoes.

A toast to Jake with Vina Temprana