Yup! I've been reading. Three novels on the trip. The Last Trip since I've been home, also finishing up Hallie Ephron's book, 1001 Books for Every Occasion. Lots of good suggestions. And for about a year I've been struggling to get through The Guermantes Way. Almost done. Don't think Hallie recommended Proust. He's a bear, but so rewarding.
Writing, yes. Always writing. More rejection. One that particularly stung yesterday, because the editor didn't like the characters, thought the main character unbelievable and the beginning forced. This was the book which my writer's group favors.
I admit I have plenty of unlikeable characters in my books, which is odd, because in life I tend to like most everyone. There are a few exceptions of course, but if I think back over jobs and organizations, most of the folks were all right.
The beginning of this book originally started much earlier in the story, but there is always, always, the advice to get to the murder, the action, no back story, blah, blah, and obviously the advice "shows." Forced beginning. How to make the character believable? My character is much different from me, so how to get into someone else's head? Dunno. Struggling with that in the current opus. So, suck it up, as usual. Currently, that book is nowhere. I'm wondering if I should try non-fiction. Short stories? Poems? Put down the pen forever. Then what?
Arithmetic, you ask? Always the calculations about the month and the money in this time of diminished value of investments. We have been through hard times before, and are used to scrounging, so it isn't so bad. The shock and adjustment were the worst things. So . . . suck it up there, too. Life is a series of suck-ups, isn't it? Or periods thereof.
Goulash soup last night. I stopped at Shaw's and bought one potato and one stalk of celery. . . everything else was in house, and then I discovered, whoops, no pepper. Used the rest of my jar of dried peppers. Couldn't tell any difference. My trick is to use 1 t. sweet paprika, 1 t. hot paprika, and 1 t. smoked paprika. Generous but not obscenely so toss of carraway seeds. Plenty of onion and garlic. I used some cheapy round steak that became tender in cooking. Plenty left for lunch today. I also used a mixture of beef and chicken broth.
Next topic today: competitive cooking
Showing posts with label Goulash Soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goulash Soup. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Goulash Soup
I have to confess. I'm addicted to Goulash Soup, a harmless, maybe even healthy addiction. I first ate it in Europe, mostly Germany and Austria years ago. The rust-red bowl placed in front of me always differed from restaurant to restaurant, but pureed or chunky, with veggies or just meat, it was always good. I have umpteen recipes, all delicious. Personally, I like it with plenty of veggies: onion, peppers, garlic are standard, and I like a bit of carrot and potato, too. Tomatoes, natch.
Here is my original recipe. Methinks it's from the New York Times about a million years ago.
I made it last night. For some reason it doesn't call for any broth or water in which case it would be goulash, not goulash soup. I rinse out the tomato can with some water and add beef broth or bouillion until it's just the right amount of liquid for the veggies. If you make soup, you'll know. The recipe says four to six servings. We get four for a main course. If served in cups as a soup course, you would, of course, get more servings.
About the paprika: I use a teaspoon of hot, a teaspoon of sweet and a teaspoon of smoked. It's spicy, but not eye-wateringly so. And hey, we don't consider sour cream optional, but mandatory. You can probably get by with low fat sour cream, but don't even consider the non-fat variety.
3/4 lb. boneless sirloin or shell steak. (you can use anything from round steak to filet and adjust the cooking time). You're nuts if you use filet of beef, o.k.?
2 T. cooking oil. I use canola. (note: real goulash is always made with lard or pork fat.)
2 cups finely chopped onions
2 t. finely minced garlic
1 chopped sweet, red or green papper
1 T. paprika, mixed if possible. See note above.
1 t. caraway seed
salt and freshly ground pepper (go easy on the salt if you are using a salty bouillon or broth)
2 cups canned red ripe tomatoes (you can also use fresh)
sour cream on the table
1. Trim meat of gristle and fat. Cut into half inch cubes.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole. Add the meat and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown.
3. Add onions, garlic and peppers. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add chopped carrots if using. Add the paprika, caraway seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir
4. Add the tomatoes, and whatever broth or water you are using, and cover and cook, stirring occasionally, one hour or until the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked. About half way through the cooking, add a potato chopped into 1/4 inch pieces if desired.
5. Put a dollop of sour cream on each bowl.
I really like soup plates. You can still find them. We like to eat this with real rye bread and a salad.
Bon Appetit.
Grapeshot
Here is my original recipe. Methinks it's from the New York Times about a million years ago.
I made it last night. For some reason it doesn't call for any broth or water in which case it would be goulash, not goulash soup. I rinse out the tomato can with some water and add beef broth or bouillion until it's just the right amount of liquid for the veggies. If you make soup, you'll know. The recipe says four to six servings. We get four for a main course. If served in cups as a soup course, you would, of course, get more servings.
About the paprika: I use a teaspoon of hot, a teaspoon of sweet and a teaspoon of smoked. It's spicy, but not eye-wateringly so. And hey, we don't consider sour cream optional, but mandatory. You can probably get by with low fat sour cream, but don't even consider the non-fat variety.
3/4 lb. boneless sirloin or shell steak. (you can use anything from round steak to filet and adjust the cooking time). You're nuts if you use filet of beef, o.k.?
2 T. cooking oil. I use canola. (note: real goulash is always made with lard or pork fat.)
2 cups finely chopped onions
2 t. finely minced garlic
1 chopped sweet, red or green papper
1 T. paprika, mixed if possible. See note above.
1 t. caraway seed
salt and freshly ground pepper (go easy on the salt if you are using a salty bouillon or broth)
2 cups canned red ripe tomatoes (you can also use fresh)
sour cream on the table
1. Trim meat of gristle and fat. Cut into half inch cubes.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole. Add the meat and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown.
3. Add onions, garlic and peppers. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add chopped carrots if using. Add the paprika, caraway seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir
4. Add the tomatoes, and whatever broth or water you are using, and cover and cook, stirring occasionally, one hour or until the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked. About half way through the cooking, add a potato chopped into 1/4 inch pieces if desired.
5. Put a dollop of sour cream on each bowl.
I really like soup plates. You can still find them. We like to eat this with real rye bread and a salad.
Bon Appetit.
Grapeshot
Friday, October 31, 2008
Cat Blog Day Rolls Around Again
You were expecting to see cats in costumes, perchance? Fie!
Friday is cat blog day. The cats, Thisbe and Annie, have been adversarial lately, and when we came back from Long Island there were bits of fur all over the house, a sure sign of fighting. Of course the fights are always over in seconds.
Thisbe doesn't take kindly to bullying anymore, and gives as good as she gets. I notice that when they are having one of their confrontations (catfrontations in S.O.'s vocabulary) there is a lack of eye contact. One will look daggers and the other will be examining the ceiling, the chair, whatever there is to stare at without making eye contact with the enemy, so to speak.
Yesterday, for us, not the cats I made goulash soup, which is a cool weather fave, and always tasty. I had a pound of cheap thin steak. That and two onions, a green papper, garlic, canned tomatoes, carraway seeds, broth, and one teaspoon each hot, sweet and smoked paprika. Salt and pepper, natch. Most satisfying--not really spicy, but resonant. I added a potato and some chopped carrot, because we do like our veggies.
I made two loaves of bread, my food processor French bread, and it was not a walk in the park. Didn't add quite enough flour, and I had the stickiest, ickiest mess. Had to add more flour and knead it in. This is a no-knead bread, mind you. Sticky hands, sticky food processor, sticky counter--sticky everything. Yuck! Somehow I was able to form two loaves and they rose nicely, considering that I was afraid I also had the water too hot.
Bread is full of landmines. Into the oven it went, and it came out looking like, well, bread, with that wonderful smell. We attacked a loaf with the soup and ate most of the remainder this morning, leaving another loaf for the rest of today.
I really need (knead?) to branch out into other breads. Tonight we're grilling a pork tenderloin with a smoked paprika sauce. Yukon gold potatoes. Salad. Does that sound good or what?
Lately, I've been writing my novel, a speech, assignments for the food writing class, and soon, before Tuesday, an essay about why I am for Obama.
In the meantime, there are daffodils to plant as the weather should be good today. Frost on the pumpkin this morning.
Oh yes! Halloween. We have to carve the blasted expensive ($8.00) orange thing today. I bought candy at the Lindt outlet in Wrentham Mall yesterday. We had eaten the previous batch put aside for Halloween. Shameless, greedy, chocoholics that we are. Bad!
Boo!
Grapeshot
Thisbe doesn't take kindly to bullying anymore, and gives as good as she gets. I notice that when they are having one of their confrontations (catfrontations in S.O.'s vocabulary) there is a lack of eye contact. One will look daggers and the other will be examining the ceiling, the chair, whatever there is to stare at without making eye contact with the enemy, so to speak.
Yesterday, for us, not the cats I made goulash soup, which is a cool weather fave, and always tasty. I had a pound of cheap thin steak. That and two onions, a green papper, garlic, canned tomatoes, carraway seeds, broth, and one teaspoon each hot, sweet and smoked paprika. Salt and pepper, natch. Most satisfying--not really spicy, but resonant. I added a potato and some chopped carrot, because we do like our veggies.
I made two loaves of bread, my food processor French bread, and it was not a walk in the park. Didn't add quite enough flour, and I had the stickiest, ickiest mess. Had to add more flour and knead it in. This is a no-knead bread, mind you. Sticky hands, sticky food processor, sticky counter--sticky everything. Yuck! Somehow I was able to form two loaves and they rose nicely, considering that I was afraid I also had the water too hot.
Bread is full of landmines. Into the oven it went, and it came out looking like, well, bread, with that wonderful smell. We attacked a loaf with the soup and ate most of the remainder this morning, leaving another loaf for the rest of today.
I really need (knead?) to branch out into other breads. Tonight we're grilling a pork tenderloin with a smoked paprika sauce. Yukon gold potatoes. Salad. Does that sound good or what?
Lately, I've been writing my novel, a speech, assignments for the food writing class, and soon, before Tuesday, an essay about why I am for Obama.
In the meantime, there are daffodils to plant as the weather should be good today. Frost on the pumpkin this morning.
Oh yes! Halloween. We have to carve the blasted expensive ($8.00) orange thing today. I bought candy at the Lindt outlet in Wrentham Mall yesterday. We had eaten the previous batch put aside for Halloween. Shameless, greedy, chocoholics that we are. Bad!
Boo!
Grapeshot
Monday, December 03, 2007
Goulash Soup Revisited
Note the meat is lean and not copious, and the selection of healthy veggies and seasonings. This soup won't bust anyone's diet. Use low-fat sour cream if you like.
This is the goulash soup template I use.
¾ lb. boneless sirloin or shell steak
2 T. oil (lard is traditional for “real” goulash)
2 cups (or more) chopped onion (small cubes)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 green or red pepper, chopped small
1 t. sweet paprika, 1 t. hot paprika and 1 t. smoked paprika
1 t. caraway seeds
1-2 carrots, finely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) chopped tomatoes with their juice
Salt and pepper
Beef broth and water (2/3 to 1/3) go easy on the salt if the broth is salty
1 large boiling potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes. .
Trim any fat from the meat and cut into smallish ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole. Brown the meat, stirring often until brown. Add the onions, garlic, carrot and pepper. Cook and stir for five minutes. Add the paprika (all sweet will do just fine) caraway seeds, and seasonings. Sprinkle in a bit of dried thyme if you like. Add the tomatoes in their juice and enough broth to make a soup. The potato will thicken it some, and it will cook down some, so be judicious.
Cook for an hour, add the potato, and cook until the potato is done.
Serve with sour cream if desired. The mixture of various paprikas will add resonance and complexity to the flavor.
4 to 6 generous servings. It gets better with age.
This is the goulash soup template I use.
¾ lb. boneless sirloin or shell steak
2 T. oil (lard is traditional for “real” goulash)
2 cups (or more) chopped onion (small cubes)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 green or red pepper, chopped small
1 t. sweet paprika, 1 t. hot paprika and 1 t. smoked paprika
1 t. caraway seeds
1-2 carrots, finely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) chopped tomatoes with their juice
Salt and pepper
Beef broth and water (2/3 to 1/3) go easy on the salt if the broth is salty
1 large boiling potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes. .
Trim any fat from the meat and cut into smallish ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole. Brown the meat, stirring often until brown. Add the onions, garlic, carrot and pepper. Cook and stir for five minutes. Add the paprika (all sweet will do just fine) caraway seeds, and seasonings. Sprinkle in a bit of dried thyme if you like. Add the tomatoes in their juice and enough broth to make a soup. The potato will thicken it some, and it will cook down some, so be judicious.
Cook for an hour, add the potato, and cook until the potato is done.
Serve with sour cream if desired. The mixture of various paprikas will add resonance and complexity to the flavor.
4 to 6 generous servings. It gets better with age.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Goals for 2008
I found this on J.A. Konrath's blog. Good stuff.
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
I need to plant my butt on this chair and write some of the short stories that I have lined up.
Tomorrow I make goulash soup. It's the perfect winter fare. Hearty, spicy (depending on how much and which paprika you use), with plenty of vegetables (tomato, pepper, carrot, potato) and nice lean beef. In Europe, esp. in Germany, it's on the menu in every cafe, and it's always different and always good. I see that I have no recipes in the computer for this wonderful soup. Never fear. I'll find a good link for you.
Now it's back to Festival Madness. Revisions on the ending. I find when I print out the manuscript I can more easily assess what needs changing. This, after a gazillion years reading on the computer terminal. Paper is better. Sigh.
We have what must be the first measurable snow. Bought the tree today and a nice wreath. Started decorating the house. Trauma that little Swedish mobile that dates to our first Christmas is kind of kaput. I'm determined to fix it. Today I decided that I would relax and try to enjoy the holiday instead of obsessing on the work and the time. Already I feel better.
Busy week. Busy is good. Busy is fun. Busy is productive. Repeat after me.
Grapeshot
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
I need to plant my butt on this chair and write some of the short stories that I have lined up.
Tomorrow I make goulash soup. It's the perfect winter fare. Hearty, spicy (depending on how much and which paprika you use), with plenty of vegetables (tomato, pepper, carrot, potato) and nice lean beef. In Europe, esp. in Germany, it's on the menu in every cafe, and it's always different and always good. I see that I have no recipes in the computer for this wonderful soup. Never fear. I'll find a good link for you.
Now it's back to Festival Madness. Revisions on the ending. I find when I print out the manuscript I can more easily assess what needs changing. This, after a gazillion years reading on the computer terminal. Paper is better. Sigh.
We have what must be the first measurable snow. Bought the tree today and a nice wreath. Started decorating the house. Trauma that little Swedish mobile that dates to our first Christmas is kind of kaput. I'm determined to fix it. Today I decided that I would relax and try to enjoy the holiday instead of obsessing on the work and the time. Already I feel better.
Busy week. Busy is good. Busy is fun. Busy is productive. Repeat after me.
Grapeshot
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