A Walk Down Memory Lane with Hungarian Cooking

I grew up in a Hungarian-American family that didn't come to America until after 1900, I am only the 3rd generation to be born in here.  My great-grandmother came to America when she was a teenager, married a Hungarian man (who I don't know much about) and had 3 children including my grandma. My grandfather came over with his family from Hungary when he was a toddler. I grew up eating delicious homemade Hungarian cooking. Hungarian cooking isn't very popular around the US but it should be because it is hands down the best comfort food ever. As an adult I never tried cooking any of my childhood foods, I guess I always figured that there was no way I could come close to my grandma's and my aunt's cooking so I wasn't going to even try. Recently, David had a Cub Scout assignment about his family heritage and one of the requirements was to make a traditional food. So I got on Pinterest (where I get all my ideas from!) and searched out Hungarian foods. We decided to make a Hungarian goulash, this is a soup made with chunks of beef, potatoes, tomatoes, paprika and coriander..not a bowl of noodles and hamburger like most people think of when they hear "goulash".  I didn't expect it to come out to taste like I remembered but I was pleasantly surprised when it tasted almost exactly like my grandma's! She has been gone for a few years now and hasn't cooked in even longer so it was so wonderful to taste those flavors again and even better to share them with my son. I'm including the original pin so if anyone would like to try this amazing comfort food soup you can! My only suggestion is it came out thicker than I remember so next time I will be adding a cup or so of extra water. It's so simple to make and has so much amazing flavor that it's really worth a try. http://pinterest.com/pin/258112622365030143/

 Credit: André Baranowski

 

4 tbsp. sunflower or canola oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 1⁄2 lbs. beef chuck, trimmed
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste
1⁄4 cup sweet paprika
2 tsp. dried marjoram
2 tsp. caraway seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
2 medium parsnips, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 1⁄2 lbs. medium new potatoes, peeled
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 tomato, cored and chopped
1 Italian frying pepper, chopped

1. Heat oil in a 5-qt. dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, stirring only once or twice, until the meat is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in paprika, marjoram, caraway, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add carrots, parsnips, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, covered, until the beef is nearly tender, about 40 minutes.

2. Add potatoes and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and peppers; cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with rye bread, if you like.

SERVES 4 – 6

 

For the same Cub Scout assignment I had to make a snack for the whole pack. I decided to try making traditional kiffels which are a cookie with a filling such as apricots or walnuts. Those, however, were a huge fail. They tasted terrible and I ended up running to Winn Dixie and buying a box of powdered sugared "Danish Wedding Cookies" and passed them off as Hungarian cookies..no one knew the difference, lol!

 

I am looking forward to learning more of the traditional recipes and maybe even perfecting my kiffels!

 

The recipe and photo are from www.saveur.com