Hungarian-Style Goulash

It's time once again for Crazy Hip Blog Mamas Recipe Rally, this week's theme is Local Taste.

This is one of my all time favourites, a recipe that never fails and is just so incredibly simple and good. It reminds of home, although my family is not Hungarian my Grandmother was born in Slovenia a region of the former Yugoslavia. Many countries in Eastern Europe have similar dishes, my Mother makes an Austrian version without the paprika and with caraway seeds but the Hungarian version is by far my favourite. This dish stands on it's own but if you wish you could add potatoes and carrots halfway through the cooking process. I love the peasant style cooking of this region and some of my other favourites are Cabbage Rolls, Perogies, Crepes and Plum Dumplings. I recently found a recipe for Croatian Cabbage Rolls that are cooked on the stove rather than in the oven that I can't wait to try, much like the Plum Dumplings these cabbage rolls are a labour intensive project that take a lot more time than this wonderful stew. I really hope you give this dish a try, don't let the paprika scare you the sour cream mellows this dish out and I bet you won't be able to resist seconds. Enjoy!

Hungarian-Style Goulash

3 tablespoons butter
6 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 2 pounds)
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4 cup paprika yes, this much! Use a good quality Hungarian paprika if you can find it, sweet paprika not hot
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup sour cream (use full fat, the low calorie stuff is just not the same)
Freshly grated Parmigiana cheese

About 3-1/2 hours before serving:
In Dutch over medium-high heat, in hot butter, cook onions, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Add stew meat, paprika, salt and bay leaf. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 3 hours or until meat is fork tender, stirring occasionally. If meat sticks to the pan, add a tablespoon or two of water.

Discard bay leaf. Stir in sour cream. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiana cheese. Serve with wonderful freshly baked crusty bread from your local bakery.

This dish can be served over egg noodles or rice. I usually serve over rice as it soaks up the sauce and not a drop is left on my plate.