Want Something Posh? Feed Your Mouth Hungarian Goulash!

There’s no better comfort food in the world, and the combination of garlic, paprika, and ground caraway seeds makes this dish sublime.

The moment comes when everyone takes the first bite. I never ask my guests to wait until I’m seated, but when it happens, a good dish will silence everyone.

That spontaneous moment, when all you hear is jazz playing in the background, smells (and tastes) like victory.

It’s teacher convention week in New Jersey, and on a drizzly and cold day, what did you expect me to do? Play with my son for six hours? I put that little tike to work!

Here he is in action grinding caraway seeds. First off, the grinder: I procured this marble one at a chic NYC epicurean store for $15 bucks, which was a steal! I shopped at this very same store two years prior and fell in love with a Le Creuset dutch oven, but the price was $400. Instead, I bought a Loge… a big, ugly, beige one that prompted the salesperson to stick her nose up at me.

I can handle a snob, and besides, why let an idiot get in the way of a good cooking instrument?

This dish is courtesy of FoodWishes.com and the chef extraordinaire, Chef John. I’ve made 50+ recipes of his and I continue to make them all the time. I do not recommend this for anyone trying to lose weight, but the recipes are easy to make and taste delish.

After cubing up the chuck meat, the pan is used to cook onions, then a secret trick comes into play: cooking the spices. This wakes them up, especially the ground caraway seeds. After adding liquids to deglaze the pan, everything gets dumped into the dutch oven and you simmer it for several hours.

I also ran the liquids through a strainer and fat separator. For tips on how best to do this, check out this earlier post.

Fortunately, and for once, I started cooking at 2:30 and the weather was terrific motivation. Oh, the scents that lofted into the air and throughout the house when I refused to turn on the stove fan! It was a pleasure and you cook this with the lid off so it boils down into a tasty and thicker sauce.

Served on a bed of flat egg noodles, and adding a side of steamed and buttered peas, makes for the perfect comfort food dish.

Watch it with the salt, that part of the meal came back to bite me in the ass, which is frankly larger now in size given how much I love to cook rich foods. I would use low sodium or no-sodium chicken broth. You can always add salt before it’s ready to serve.

Let me know if you give this dish a spin and enjoy!