Goulash
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onions, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds, toasted and ground
1 ½ Tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika (It does need to be sweet, but not necessarily Hungarian)
1 teaspoon spicy Hungarian paprika (It does need to be spicy, but not necessarily Hungarian. This can be “regular” paprika.)
2 Tablespoons fresh marjoram leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
4 cups chicken broth
2 ½ pounds chuck roast, cut into cubes of 1 or 2 inches, excess fat removed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Dumplings
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Goulash
1. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil and sauté onions and sugar until caramelized (Stir a lot until onions are browned, the color of caramel. Add the garlic and caraway seeds and cook another minute.
2. Add the sweet and spicy paprika, marjoram, thyme, and bay leaf. Sauté another minute, until fragrant.
3. Add tomato paste. Deglaze with vinegar and chicken stock/broth. Add beef, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook until the meat is really tender, about 1 ½ hours.
Dumplings
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, combine with the milk and melted butter. Don’t stir too much. When meat is done, drop batter a teaspoonful at a time into the simmering stew. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Once you cover the dumplings, don’t uncover them for 15 minutes. You are steaming them and mustn’t let the steam escape. Test the dumplings with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the dumplings are done.