This Escoffier Goulash Recipe Is AMAZING
The recipe I found written by Escoffier is probably the closest to authentic as it comes. Amazing stew regardless with a great rustic look and flavor to it.
Authentic goulash. Well, this is a recipe that has much debate about what is actually authentic on preparation. All claim to be right, yet all appear to be different. I stumbled across a recipe written by Auguste Escoffier that I believe can be along the line of authentic. In the cook book I have, “The Complete Guide to The Art Of Modern Cookery”, it states that the “principles laid down for the preparation of Hungarian goulash are vague”. The ingredients, the preparations are indeed confusing and all over the place depending on who you ask and what video you click on.
I tend to think that the recipe I wrote in this blog that follows what is in the book are as close to authentic as I can find. Preparation wise, ingredient wise. There are 2 methods that are written in the book. One is said to be authentic and one is geared towards it being prepared in a professional kitchen (w/ a slightly different recipe). The latter I find is more approachable to home cooks. I wrote the recipe in this blog to closely resemble the authentic one spelled out and I am using the cooking method listed in the preparation for a proffessional kitchen. Am I right or am I wrong, who really knows.
Ingredients:
2 lbs chuck
12 oz baby gold potatoes
3 shallots
3 c beef stock
5 whole carrots
2 lbs fresh tomatoes
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp lard
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds (not in the book, but is also authentic)
2 tbsp butter
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Tools needed:
Sharp knife
Cutting board
Slotted chef’s spoon
Measuring cups and spoons
Mixing bowl
Glass mixing bowl
Dutch oven with lid
Wooden spoon
How to make it:
First thing I like to do with the recipe is cut up the beef into 1/2 inch thick cubes. Place the cut up beef into a mixing bowl and season with salt. Let the salt sit on the meat while the other ingredients get prepped. Generally, I let the meat sit at room temperature for 30 - 40 minutes before I can get back to it in the cooking step. For an accurate amount of salt, I go with 1 % of the weight of the meat. For example, 2 lbs of beef weighs roughly 907 g. 907 x .001 = 9.07 g salt needed. This is a great way to season perfectly. Not too salty, not too little.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Scoring the flesh of the tomato helps the skin get easily removed after a quick blanch.
For the tomatoes, score an “x” on the top of each. Place the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water until the skin starts to wrinkle slightly. This should take only 45 seconds to 1 minute. Immediately remove the tomatoes from the boiling with a slotted chef’s spoon water and place in a water bath (iced water). Pull the tomatoes from the iced water once cooled and remove the skin. Cut the tomatoes around the center avoiding the seeds. If needed, remove any remaining seeds by hand. Rough chop the tomatoes and set in a glass bowl.
Cut the ends off the carrots and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Peeling the carrots is optional and I rarely do.
Cut up the shallots into quarters with root end and paper layer removed.
Quarter or sixth the potatoes and place in a bowl full of water to keep them from oxidizing. The potatoes and carrots get added the last hour of cooking.
Het up your dutch oven over medium high heat until it starts to smoke. Add the lard and meat to the dutch oven. Cook the meat in the pot until it barely starts to brown. Stir occasionally. Goulash is a recipe that from my understanding, doesn’t call for the meat to get browned aggressively. Once the meat has browned all the way, lower the heat to medium and place in the cut up onions or shallots with a pinch of salt on the shallots. Sweat for 5 minutes. Add the butter and fully melt in. Add the flour and stir in to incorporate. Cook the flour on the beef for about 5 minutes to cook the rawness of the flour. The flour is there to add some body to the finished cooking liquid. Add in the tomatoes and the beef stock. If the beef was evenly coated with the flour, it shouldn’t clump when the beef stock gets added. Turn the cooking temperature to high and bring the cooking liquid to a boil. Turn off the heat and place a lid on the dutch oven. Place the goulash into the oven and set a timer for 1-1/2 hours. After that timer goes off, the meat should be starting to get tender with a slight bounce to it still. Add the chopped carrots and remove the potatoes from the water. Quickly dry off the potatoes and add to the goulash carefully stirring the ingredients in. I like to keep the ingredients submerged under the liquid level. As the carrots and potatoes cook, they will absorb the cooking liquid slightly.
Set another timer for 1 more hour to cook the potatoes, carrots and the meat the rest of the way through.
Remove the goulash from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. I love to serve this with a small piece of French bread and softened butter.
Enjoy!
Logan