Hungarian Goulash

“Look for paprika imported from Hungary and buy a new container from the market, throwing out that musty tin that’s been sitting for years in your pantry.” Wolfgang Puck

A Wolfgang Puck/Austrian Inspired Dinner Party


Hungarian Goulash and Homemade Spaetzle – it was delicious thanks to Wolfgang’s inspiration and Merisi’s input all the way from Vienna!

Ingredient Still Life.

Start by caramelizing the onions in olive oil, then add garlic.

Toast the caraway seeds then grind them in a spice grinder and add to the onions.

Smokey! Add the two paprikas…sweet and hot.
I took Merisi’s advice not to make a “California Goulash” as she says there are no fresh herbs in her experience…so I added only dried marjoram.

Andrew, the butcher at Bristol Farms cut the beef shanks into cubes and advised me to put the bones in the stew for more flavor.

Deglaze the pot with balsamic vinegar then add the chicken stock, bay leaves and tomato paste, and the meat and bones.

This Le Creuset French Oven is perfect for this dish. Merisi’s advice was to put it in the oven at 195 degrees not to let it boil and cook even longer than the original recipe for a very tender meat.

Later that day:
Side Bar – The cook’s treat. Remove the bones from the stew. Marrow anyone?

At the Dinner Party:
The goulash is served in Pat’s beautiful China “Evesham” made in England.

Sally kicked off the dinner party with a pizzette appetizer, her interpretation of Wolfgang’s famous pizza from Spago with smoked salmon and caviar.

Pat’s scallop dish: Scallops, Cauliflower Cream, Balsamic Reduction. See 10/09 post for details.

One course, two salads: Lauren made Wolfgang’s couscous salad while Gail prepared sliced roasted beets and mache in a butter lettuce cup with Wolfgang’s mustard dressing.

Salzburger Nockerln: Patrick made his with cherries, Wolfgang’s recipe calls for raspberries. “Salzburg is a wonderful town on the Bavarian Border famous for its small hills called ‘Nockerln’. This dish celebrates the hills of Salzburg with its hills of heaped Meringue. It’s rich, indulgent and utterly delicious. This is a true Austrian dessert that brings back memories of good times and loved ones. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. ” WP

Elegant dinner party with friends who love to cook!

The Hungarian Goulash with Spaetzle.

Detailed recipe at wolfgangpuck.com

Why a blog is so neat:
We are having an Austrian inspired dinner party in Southern California and I get excellent authentic advice and support from a woman in Vienna whom I have never met. Isn’t that something? Thanks Merisi!

Lori Lynn

P.S. That said, you may want to visit the Foodie Blogroll, of which I am a proud new member.

7 thoughts on “Hungarian Goulash”

  1. Everything looks delicious. How lucky you are to have friends like this.Must have been a fun and satisfying night.

  2. Thanks for your visit Lori Lynn(what a nice name!), that way leading me to this post – I adore goulash and not a winter passes that I don’t try a new version, so of course I have yours in hand now and will have to make it. It looks delicious.
    Ronell

  3. Hi Jenn – me neither, it had been years since I made it. I won’t wait that long again, especially since I have the paprikas now 🙂

    Hi Maryann – I am very fortunate to have such good friends, and that they can cook, what a bonus! We just love our themed dinner parties!

    Hi Cynthia – YAY for the food blogs!

    Hi Ronell – I’ll tell my mother what you said about my name 🙂
    It’s nice to get to know another food blogger. Thanks for stopping by.

  4. Hi Lori Lynn!
    Sorry it took me so long to swing by your beautiful blog. Thank you for mentioning me, it was a pleasure passing on to you what I know about Austrian food. Every dish of your meal looks delicious! Make me hungry right now. That Szeged Paprika is of excellent quality, I used it myself in the States. A couple of weeks I was in Hungary and bought paprika there (only an hour’s drive from Vienna, seems really strange).

    Regarding the Salzburger Nockerl, last time I was in Bad Ischl, a small town in the mountains not far from Salzburg, a visited my favorite cafe’ and pastry shop, the “Zauner”. On the table next to us a group of American students were eating these nockerl. There’s a picture on my blog (here, you need to scroll down a bit). The original recipe calls for lingonberry jam at the bottom of the souffle (it’s the play of tart berries and sweet meringue that makes it taste so special).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.