Beef Goulash

When I was traveling around Europe in the summer I couldn't help but bring back a load of local bits and bobs to cook with! One of the things I brought back was some goulash spices from the Naschkmarkt in Vienna, because after trying goulash in Prague (and later in Hungary) I was keen to make it myself!

Last night I made this for me and boyfriend and it was really delicious! As you probably can't make a trip to Vienna just to pick up the spices, I'd say to use paprika instead. It worked brilliantly served with just some crusty bread and a green salad, but you could always have a go at some dumplings to serve in the stew or it would be tasty with some rice!

 

serves 2

Ingredients

olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped/crushed
1-2 teaspoons goulash spices/paprika
salt and black pepper
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
stewing steak (enough for two people), diced
1 beef stock cube
1/4 glass of dry white wine
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped (or a teaspoon of dried if you forget to pick up the fresh stuff like I did!)
2 tablespoons sour cream

to serve
crusty bread (I used part-baked rolls from the supermarket, but some nice bread from the bakery would be lovely as well!)
green salad leaves
 

Preheat your oven to about 130 degrees.

Fry the onion in a splash of olive oil for a few minutes over a medium heat. As the onion is starting to soften, mix in the garlic, spices and a generous twist of salt and black pepper. Fry for a further two minutes before adding your chilli and pepper. Once the peppers have started to soften, tip the contents of your pan into a casserole dish.



Add the steak to the pan and mix it around until it is sealed all over (this will only take a couple of minutes). Add about 100ml of boiling water to your stock cube (probably less than the packet will recommend) and pour into the pan. Mix in the wine, tomato puree, and chopped tomatoes. Heat through for a couple of minutes and then add to the casserole dish, mixing with the veg. You should have enough liquid for all of the ingredients to be just covered.






Loosely wrap some silver foil around the casserole dish (or use a lid if you have one) and pop in the oven for about an hour and a half, stirring half way through. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, take out and add the parsley and sour cream. Mix and return to the oven without the foil. I put the bread into the oven at this point to bake for ten minutes to serve warm with the goulash.


Serve with your chosen accompaniment and enjoy!

Cafes and Food Stalls in Prague

Interrail Stop 3

Firstly, an apology for being entirely absent from this blog the last couple of weeks... After the first few hostels on the interrail tour it got pretty tricky to upload photos, so I couldn't blog the delicious food we were sampling on our way around!! On the plus side, that basically means a short blog a day for a while with all my snaps and thoughts on the various Eastern Europe cuisine we managed to get our hands on!! So I'm sorry and please keep checking back for more! I will pop a couple of recipes up as I go along as well...

So, Prague - GORGEOUS city - everything you heard about the cobbled streets, colourful buildings, beautiful places of worship and red roof-top landscape is absolutely true!

We had an amazing time wandering the streets and the castle on walking tours, and managed to try some of the side street cafe culture as well as the delicious food offered on stands in every square!!

Street Stalls

The icecream in Prague was yummy - so many different flavours - from fruity and fresh to rich and creamy! We also saw stall after stall of various grab-and-go foods, such as this pork cooking in the main square and giving off a delicious smell!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warming Goulash

Still not in Hungary, but another goulash tempted our appetite in an underground cafe full of wooden walls, ceilings and furniture and great beers (which are unfortunately completely lost on me!) One portion plenty big enough for two, served with dumplings that had a texture somewhere in between potato and bread and soaked up the rich sauce just lovely.

Eating Cheap in the Side Street Cafes

The currency conversion is about £1=30 Czech Koruna, so it takes a little bit of thinking about to realise that your 110CZK is actually worth very little! It did, however, manage to get us a set menu (intended for one but we shared it!!) in a lovely little outdoor cafe off a side street from the main square. We had a mushroom soup for starter, which was delicious and actually very filling in itself!

Then a mixed salad with chicken and a tasty bowl of chips followed - the fresh salad was very welcome after all the warm, hearty food we had eaten so far! 

 

Ironically, we had ordered this set menu deal because it looked like the most food we could get for the money we had, and didn't want to withdraw any more Czech currency before we left.. but later that afternoon we ran out of water and had to withdraw far too much money just to buy some more! So we probably should have just taken more out in the first place, but oh well, we tried to do it on the cheap!!



So there you have it... the selection of food we had in Prague. A lot more traditional food from a range of different countries to follow, so hopefully see you soon!

Polish Dumplings in Warsaw

Interrail Stop Number 1

So for our first stop on our interrail tour around Eastern European Cities, we went to Warsaw, Poland. We had been told to expect a very industrialised, built up and new looking city, which it was in some areas. But we were pleasantly surprised with the Old Town and castle, as much of what we walked through was gorgeous!

Anyhoo, the food... we had the most Polish dish we could find on the first night... dumplings!! Me and my friend ordered some refreshing lemon drinks, a portion of Great Hungarian Style Pancake (with goulash) and a mixture of savoury dumplings. Absolutely delicious but sooooo filling!!