![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2020\/03\/beef-goulash-1024x768.jpg\")
Folks, I haven\u2019t blogged nearly as much as I\u2019d like, and, in particular, my ambition of creating a mini-cookbook doesn\u2019t have much to show for itself (by which I mean that I\u2019d like eventually to pull together all the recipes which are scattered across multiple cookbooks and photocopied in a binder, into a single spot).\u00a0 But I have landed on a new favorite for the Instant Pot, from, in fact, one of those cookbooks, with, of course, the usual sorts of tweaks.\u00a0 As you can see here, I had already started to eat when I realized I wanted to take a picture.<\/p>\n
The basic recipe goes like this:<\/p>\n
2 pounds beef stew meat<\/p>\n
1 medium onion, sliced<\/p>\n
2 garlic cloves, minced<\/p>\n
1 1\/2 cups beef stock<\/p>\n
1\/2 cup tomato paste<\/p>\n
2 tbps Worcestershire sauce<\/p>\n
1 tbsp brown sugar<\/p>\n
2 tsp kosher salt<\/p>\n
2 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika<\/p>\n
Put everything into the instant pot; cook on manual\/high for 35 minutes, done.<\/p>\n
Comments:<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve used chuck steak\/roast and round steak, and while the chuck is better, the round steak is an acceptable compromise.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it: some of these recipes say to trim all the \u201cseparable\u201d fat from the meat, which is a huge nuisance.\u00a0 Pot-roast-y recipes have you separate the fat before making a gravy and that works OK, I guess, but making a stew-like recipe and having tons of fat just icks me out.\u00a0 I also tend to end up with more than two pounds.<\/p>\n
The \u201cbeef stock\u201d is always just 1\/2 cups water with beef soup base.<\/p>\n
The tomato paste \u2014 well, I\u2019m just going to observe that I always try to keep the rest of the 6 oz can of tomato paste for another recipe, then end up throwing it out.\u00a0 This time around I didn\u2019t even bother with trying to keep the rest; it\u2019s most of the can, anyway.\u00a0 (Hmmm. . . . I should do the math.\u00a0 What other adjustments would I need if I used a full can of tomato paste, since I generally use more than 2 pounds of meat anyway?)<\/p>\n
The paprika?\u00a0 I\u2019ll be honest: I just use the paprika you get at Aldi.\u00a0 It\u2019s just labelled \u201cpaprika\u201d \u2014 not \u201cHungarian.\u201d\u00a0 Not \u201csweet.\u201d And not \u201cHungarian sweet paprika.\u201d\u00a0 Would I find that buying the right kind of paprika would make all the difference?\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 What do you think?\u00a0 I have a recipe which calls for smoked paprika where I do spend the extra cash on smoked paprika specifically, but I haven\u2019t shopped for special paprika for this recipe.<\/p>\n
I also cook this for 45 instead of 35 minutes.\u00a0 Does it make a difference?\u00a0 I think it helps when I\u2019m using round steak.\u00a0 I also cut the meat into bite-sized pieces if it happens that I\u2019ve gotten a pre-cut \u201cstew meat.\u201d\u00a0 And I make a slurry (1 -2 tbsp. cornstarch and enough water to mix it up) to stir in at the end to thicken it slightly.<\/p>\n
This is meant to go over noodles, but I\u2019ve served it with whatever I happen to have, or nothing at all.\u00a0 Tonight it was overcooked semi-mashed cauliflower for my husband and I and leftover macaroni and cheese for the kids.\u00a0 And, again, it\u2019s not especially fancy; it really shouldn\u2019t even take all that long to get in the pot (except that tonight I was fighting with a dull knife and a lot of fat on the meat) but it makes everyone in the family happy.\u00a0 And \u2014 even though my oldest is now away at college \u2014 2 pounds doesn\u2019t produce very much in the way of next day\u2019s leftovers anyway.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s not very Lent-y, but enjoy!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Folks, I haven\u2019t blogged nearly as much as I\u2019d like, and, in particular, my ambition of creating a mini-cookbook doesn\u2019t have much to show for itself (by which I mean that I\u2019d like eventually to pull together all the recipes which are scattered across multiple cookbooks and photocopied in a binder, into a single spot).\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":16680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[68,639,160],"class_list":["post-16677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cookingbaking","tag-food-blogging","tag-recipes"],"yoast_head":"\n