Previously, I had a recipe on this site called "Hungarian Goulash." Yesterday, I learned about authentic Hungarian goulash. I changed the name of the other recipe to "American Goulash." 

Hungarian goulash is a simple dish of meat and various vegetables with a base of onions and Hungarian sweet paprika. My friend Jeffrey, who lived in Hungary for a couple of years, pointed me to this recipe and provided me with the paprika, believing that this would work very well in a dutch oven. He was SO right.

Although I enjoy the Americanized version, the authentic Hungarian goulash is comfort food at its finest. It has a depth of flavor that hamburger in a tomato-y sauce will never have.

It's important to use imported Hungarian sweet paprika for this recipe. I was able to find it on Amazon. Click Here The "Pride of Szeged" is Jeffrey's preferred brand. While you're buying sweet paprika, you might consider buying a tin of hot paprika as well. People can sprinkle it on their own serving of goulash to give it some "kick."

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp pork lard or butter
• 1 1/2 lbs yellow onions
• 1/4 cup imported sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 1/2 lbs beef
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 carrots
• 2 medium potatoes
• 5 cups beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Cut the beef into 1/2-inch cubes. The beef is diced smaller than you will find in beef stews. Dice the onions, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes as well.

Melt the lard or butter in a 12-inch dutch oven over a full spread of briquettes. Add the onions and cook until they are just beginning to brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the paprika.  Add the beef and garlic, return to the heat, and cook until the beef is no longer pink.

Add the peppers and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until they are just starting to soften. Add the carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, beef broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Cover and simmer with 12 briquettes bottom heat and 14-16 briquettes top heat for 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt to taste.

Serve with hot paprika and/or crushed red pepper for heat and a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Notes:
Don't substitute green bell peppers for the red and yellow peppers in this recipe. They don't have the right flavor for this goulash.

Be careful not to scorch the paprika. The beef will release enough moisture to simmer without burning the paprika.

If you use a tougher cut of beef, the beef, onions, and paprika can be simmered alone for 40-60 minutes before adding the vegetables and continuing as above.