Braised beef goulash with smoked pimenton

From Delia Complete How to Cook
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 lb 8 oz (1.15 kg) British chuck steak (braising steak), trimmed and cut into 1½ inch (4 cm) cubes
1 level tablespoon hot smoked pimentón
1 level tablespoon sweet, mild smoked pimentón, plus a little extra to sprinkle
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 level tablespoons plain flour
3 bay leaves
2 tins Italian chopped tomatoes, one 400 g, one 230 g
2 medium red peppers
salt and freshly milled black pepper

To serve:
8 fl oz (225 ml) soured cream
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 1, 275ºF (140ºC).

Method

Begin by heating the oil in the casserole over a highish heat until it is sizzling hot. Then brown the cubes of beef on all sides, cooking a few at a time. They need to be a good, deep nutty brown colour. As they brown, transfer them to a plate, using a draining spoon.

Now, with the heat turned down to medium, stir in the onions and cook them for about 5 minutes, or until they begin to brown and caramelise at the edges. Then stir in the garlic and return the meat to the casserole. Next, sprinkle in the flour and pimentón and give everything a stir to soak up the juices. Now, add the bay leaves and the contents of both tins of tomatoes, and season well with salt and freshly milled black pepper. Let it all come slowly up to simmering point.

Then cover the casserole with a tight-fitting lid and transfer it to the middle shelf of the oven to cook very slowly for exactly 2 hours.Meanwhile, prepare the peppers by halving them, removing the seeds and pith and cutting the flesh into strips roughly measuring 1 x 2 inches (2 x 5 cm). Then, when the 2 hours are up, stir the chopped peppers into the goulash, replace the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Just before serving, take the casserole out of the oven, let it stand for 5 minutes,then stir in the soured cream to give a lovely marbled, creamy effect.

Finally, sprinkle over a little more pimentón, and serve straight from the casserole.

This is Delia Smith’s version of the Hungarian goulash – From wikipedia:

Goulash (plural: goulashes) is primarily a soup, also existing as stew, usually made of beef, onions, vegetables, spices and ground paprika powder.[1] The name originates from the Hungarian gulyás ([ˈɡujaːʃ] listen (help·info)), the word for a cattle stockman or herdsman.