Hearty Paprika Lamb Stew (Lamb golyas)

The Lowdown:

Yup, it's official. The weather sucks. Really, after hearing about the east coast, I will not complain. On to the next point: the benefits of cold, wet, dreary, sunless, winters. Wow, that's definitely one way to make it seem like there are no benefits. But, as we all know, there are are few. I'm not going to get into the others, because they are not food related (ahem, keeping each other warm at night). Rather, not food related in a PG sense (fondue experiments?) The benefit I am referring to is, none other than, satisfying those cravings for warm, rich, savoury stews and soups. Slow cooked, low heat, well spiced, decadent aromas whafting from the kitchen goodness.

I love having seasons. Right now we are on the verge of crossing over from BBQ season to crock pot season. A true man would probably say that the mighty BBQ supercedes the conventional rules of cooking seasons. Therefore, being a true man, I'm going to say it; "the mighty BBQ supercedes the conventional rules of cooking seasons. Now hear me roar." Now that we've got that out of the way, I also love crock pot season -- and that's no crock. I love sneaking "tasters" throughout the day, knowing full well that it hasn't reached its potential. Enjoying the warth and heartiness it provides, but knowing that it's only going to get better. Or if it tastes horrible, scrap it while nobody's looking and order in pizza. Genius.

 

The Playlist:

2 lbs Lamb, 1" cubes
4 tbsp Lard (Goose fat or bacon fat will do)
2 tbsp Flour
2 Onions, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Parsnips, chopped
4 Tomatoes, chopped 
2 cups Red Wine
3 cups Beef stock
4 tbsp Smoked paprika
Pepper, a generous amount
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1-2 cup(s) Sour cream
Salt, to taste

The Playlist:

1. In large heavy pot: heat lard until spattering, then add lamb and brown on each side. While lamb is browning add flour & pepper and mix quickly to ensure no clumps form. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3 minutes.
2. To pot: remaining ingredients, with the exception of the sour cream. Turn heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 2 - 3 hours.
3. Remove from heat and add the sour cream. Serve warm. 

Stay Rad -h
Featured on: Premeditated Leftovers, 33 Shades of Green, Chef in Training, Food Renegade, 
  


 

Rippin' Another Blog: Paprikás Csirke (Chicken Paprikash)

The Lowdown:

Paprikás Csirke is a delicious (traditional?) Hungarian dish. It's silky smooth, creamy texture and mildly sweet, aromatic flavour is quite a formidable foe against blandness. It is simple to make, yet has a complex, heart warming flavour, that defeats even the most severe cases of the winter blues.

I'm not sure what Hungary's climate is like, but I can discern from their cooking style that it must be cold a lot. Seriously, all of my favourite cold weather comfort foods seem to be from that general region. This dish, which I've cooked periodically throughout my life, is no exception. Every winter I find myself craving the satisfaction that it provides -- savoury, aromatic, and comforting. Throw in a side of brussel sprouts, winter squash, or sauteed cabbage and you're in for a night of comfort. Seriously, bust out those paint covered sweat pants (that you always promise your significant other you'll throw out one day) because you'll need them to reach the maximum comfort level. While you're at it, light a fire and dust off that old copy of Home Alone. Despite my best efforts, I can't stress enough how comforting this dish is.

I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed. I went into my spice cupboard and noticed that I have four types of paprika. It is just one of those spices that I always find myself using. The "fake" stuff for adding colour to dishes or garnishing. The hot, smoked variety for adding a bit of zip and aroma to dishes. The rest, for various uses as I see fit. With the mercury dropping at a steady rate, I'm sure I'll have no problem making dishes that require paprika; after all, I always find myself craving these sorts of dishes around this time of year.

I've never used a recipe to make this dish; however, it is hard to write a post when there is no recipe to follow. So today, for the first time, I am following a recipe (sorta, kinda). The Domestic Man has provided me with said recipe. This also fits perfectly into our latest scheme. No, not taking over the world... the other one: rippin' another blog.

The Playlist:

3 Chicken breasts, bone in
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp Goose fat*
2 tbsp Hungarian paprika (sweet)
1 tsp Marjoram, dried
2 cups Chicken broth
1/2 cup White wine (optional)
1 cup Sour cream
Water, to cover chicken
Pepper, to coat chicken

* Any form of lard can be substituted for this (after reading other sites and blogs, butter is not an acceptable replacement).

The Skinny:

1. Debone the chicken breasts, then generously cover chicken with fresh, fine cracked pepper.
2. In large skillet: heat goose fat on medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and brown the side with the skin (the skin should be crisped up). Brown the other side of the chicken, as well as, the onions and garlic.
3. Move the chicken and onions to the side and put the paprika into the spare portion of the skillet. Cook the paprika for 30 seconds then add the chicken broth, water, white wine, and marjoram. Cover tightly and simmer for an hour. If your lid does not perfectly fit the skillet, place a sheet of wax paper between the lid and the skillet to ensure that steam doesn't escape.
4. Remove chicken and cut into the desired size. While chicken is out of the skillet you can simmer, on high, the liquid until it reaches the desired consistency (I prefer mine to be quite brothy, as opposed to stew-like).
5. Reduce the heat and mix a few tbsp of the liquid into the sour cream until there are no clumps, then put the sour cream mixture and the chicken into the skillet.
6. Serve on spetzle, egg noodles, or rice.

 

Featured on: 33 Shades of Green, Premeditated Leftovers, Chef in Training, Food Renegade

Stay Rad -h

RPI: Bodacious Beet & Barley Burgers

The Lowdown:

Oh beets. All purple and stuff. I promised myself that I wouldn't make any corny beet jokes. However, in light of MCA, I will supply a flute loop beat to read this beet post to (song here). This post, is our fourth episode of RPI. By now, hopefully everyone knows what RPI is. If not, the RPI subheading can be found on the homepage. I must admit, the two of us were a little more... how do you say it. We made a boo-boo and forgot that this week was RPI so we skipped the battle-royale and chose beets. So ladies and gentlemen, put away your white bell bottom pants (or am I the only person that has a pair?), because this is about to get messy. Not cute messy either. You're kitchen will most likely resemble a scene from Stephen King's Carrie when you're done. So obviously exercise caution when handling these babies... and don't make me beat it into you.

Although the recipe says burgers, I lied. Oh did I ever. You're plans were foiled again! Muaha! Muahahahahaha! My evil plan is coming to fruition! They were in fact sliders! The evil minions of the burger world. The devious imps set out to take over burger joints all around the world (as lightning crashes in the background). And just when you though you were safe to go out at night, the slider strikes again! Now rise my little purple minions! Rise and take over the burger world once again!

I know they aren't stylish anymore, but I don't understand why you would want one larger burger (that is static), when you can have 3 versatile little bad-ass burgers. It's true, sliders are bad-ass - just doin' what they want... all the time. They may even be a sure shot way to please your dinner guests (song here).

If you have A.D.D taste buds you'll understand my love for sliders. When constructing a slider, I always feel like the ninja turtles and their whacky pizza creations. Really, if you make slider that is less bad-ass than it should be - it just isn't like, like bodacious and stuff - it doesn't matter. It literally is three bites and you're on to the next constructed masterpiece - that's like so tubular dudes. No need for the typical two all beef patties, special sauce, sesame seed bun (I can't remember the song, but you get the picture). No need for the usual suspects is what I was getting at. So put away the French's mustard and Heinz ketchup. They are sliders and they demand fun! They even fight for their right to party (song here).

All of the beats were provided by the Beastie Boys, so I hope you enjoy their beats while preparing your beets. Without further ado, ch-check, check it out!

The Playlist:

4 local Beets, shredded

1 cup Barley, over cooked

1 Egg

1/2 cup Fine bread crumbs**

1 small Red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves Garlic, minced

2 tsp Red mustard seed, ground

1 tsp Hungarian smoked paprika

1 tsp Coriander, ground

1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp Olive oil

1/4 cup Parsley, finely chopped
3 Morita peppers, finely chopped (optional)*

Salt & Pepper, to taste

*I like the smoky taste of morita peppers, but you could replace them with any hot pepper if you'd like. Or don't add a hot pepper at all, you're an adult.

**If you'd like to avoid gluten then you can substitute this for chick pea flour.

The Skinny:

1. On medium heat, heat oil and cook onions and garlic until onions become translucent then add beets and cook for another 20 minutes (or until beets become soft).
2. Add apple cider vinegar to deglaze pan and cook for 2 minutes, then add remaining ingredients (except for the egg and bread crumbs). Mix until everything congeals then remove from heat. Once the mixture has cooled down, add the egg and bread crumbs and mix thoroughly.
3. Form into patties and bake for 25 minutes at 375*. Once baked broil them on high to get them charred (about 5 minutes).
4. The beet burgers go exceptionally well with fresh basil leaves, goat cheese, and sliced tart apples.
5. If you have left over beets, you can turn them into "fries." Simply put non-stick spray on a baking sheet and cook the beet fries on 425* for 30 minutes, then broil them to crisp them up. I put crushed anise seed (not star anise, but the seeds within the star) and kosher salt on mine and they taste wonderful. 

Featured in: Spain in Iowa, Food Renegade, Chef in Training, 33 Shades of Green, Premeditated Leftovers,  Lady Behind the Curtain
Amee's Savory Dish

Stay Rad - h

Hungarian Golyàs w/ Seared Cabbage

The Lowdown:

If any of you know a west coast winter, you know how it can get you down. There's more grey outside than a 1950s photograph. Yes, I did look it up, photos were still greyscale in the 50s. The constant rain (and I mean rain-rain, none of this drizzle-ma-nizzle shit) left me two options. I could either start building my ark to drift away to somewhere with better weather, or I could cook a classic, well-loved, home-style meal to get rid of the blues. For starters, I'm no Tim the tool man Taylor. Nor am I a sailor. If I can rhyme one more time this blog post wont be a failure? Chalk it up, I'm a horrible rapper.

I digressed. The point I was intending to make, is that it is an excellent day for a nice warm-your-soul meal. That being said, we all have our own special meals. However, that ends here, because this is my blog. You will obey me when I say, "golyàs is a great anti-winter food." If the brainwashing didn't quite work, just keep reading anyway because you're entertained...?

Golyàs or goulash as it is commonly spelled, is a traditional Hungarian peasant meal that was left heating over a fire so that that the herders could grab a quick meal whenever. Like most peasant dishes, whatever they had is what was used. Luckily for me, that is a bonus, because my fridge literally had one carrot in the crisper. So this is my version of a very vegetable-less goulash.

The Playlist:

(Printable Recipe)

1 kg Beef sirloin tip roast, cubed (1-2")

3 Onions, coarsely chopped

5 Garlic cloves, diced

4 tbsp Paprika (Hungarian)

1 tbsp caraway seed, ground

1-2 Bay leaves.

Salt & Pepper

2-3 cups Water (or beef stock)

2 tbsp Oil (for browning onions)

1 Cabbage, quartered

Water (or chicken stock, I prefer the flavour of cabbage though).

2 tbsp Olive oil (for searing cabbage).

OPTIONAL:

1 Parsnip, peeled & chopped

2 Potatoes, peeled & chopped

1 Green pepper, chopped

2 Tomatoes, chopped

The Skinny:

1. Heat oil in a large pot on medium heat (cast iron preferably).
2. Brown onions and garlic in oil.
3. Add the beef, paprika, and ground caraway seeds.
4. Cook the beef until all sides are browned.
5. Add enough water (or broth) to cover the beef cubes.
6. Add the salt, pepper, and bay leaf.
7. Cover with a lid and let simmer on medium-low for an hour to two hours (a simple trick that was passed on by my Oma to my father was to place a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper between the lid and the pot so that none of the moisture escapes).
8. If adding any vegetables, put them in the pot, add more water if desired, and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour. If the sauce is too thin, remove the lid and allow it to cook off.
9. Put cabbage quarters into a large skillet.
10. Add enough water to cover approximately 1 inch of the bottom of the skillet.
11. On high heat bring to a boil.
12. Cover and let boil for 2-3 minutes per flat side.
13. Remove cabbage quarters (they should retain their shape, and all leaves should remain intact).
14. While excess water is draining from the cabbage, heat oil in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat.
15. Once oil is hot enough, add cabbage and sear each side until browned.
16. Salt and pepper to taste. 
17. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, csipetke, or by itself as a stew.