Around the World with Contessa - Austria

The hills are alive with the sound of music.  La di da di da!!!! Ah, first thing that pops into my mind about Austria besides Wolfgang Puck (well maybe vienna sausages, too? lol). If you don't know, he is an Austrian born celebrity chef and restaurateur and the dishes that I prepared was inspired from the "last supper" episode of Top Chef.  Wolfgang Puck wanted one of the contestant (go Richard Blaise!) to make goulash and apple strudel that his mother used to make when he was little.  B and I watched this episode with "oooohh's," "aaaahhhh's," and "hmmmmm yum." Funny that as soon as B saw what Richard Blaise prepared for Mr. Puck, he immediately thought of how his mommy used to make him goulash as well.  Being a good wifey that I am, I offered to make it for him too. LOL!

Here is my version of an Austrian Goulash and Apple Strudel. This is probably the closest thing of being in Austria (unless B decides to take me there on a whim ;-). What would have been a two hour of cooking was reduced to half an hour. Thank God for my pressure cooker. I was finally able to put it to use.  

If you ask me, this is a just a typical beef stew, which is similar to what my mom would always make. What sets this goulash apart is the combination of sweet Hungarian Paprika, carraway seeds and sour cream. Can you say yum? Carraway seeds are usually used in italian sausage and using these seeds are very traditional in European cooking. It has a sweet and slightly peppery aroma.  Traditionally, it's served with potato dumplings or what they call a Spaetzel (a type of egg noodle). I just substituted it with elbow macaroni instead.  

I served mine on a bed of Spinach.

Contessa's Goulash
two and half pounds of grass fed chuck roast
chopped onions
minced garlic
2 parnips minced
2 carrots chopped
2 medium potatoes chopped
2 medium tomatoes chopped
carraway seeds
hungarian sweet paprika
salt and pepper
sour cream
worcester sauce
green pepper sliced lengthwise
2 beef cubes

If you have a pressure cooker, I suggest you use it. It will cut your time in an hour. But you can just easily use a dutch oven.  Season the beef with salt and pepper and brown them first.  Make sure you do it in batches.  Saute onions (in butter if you prefer, I used EEVO) and season with paprika until golden brown. Add 2 beef cubes and let them melt. Add the browned meat and stir together. Add minced garlic, parsnips, chopped tomatoes, carraway seeds and continue stirring together. You may add beef broth or water at this time. Usually the beef has a lot of juices too that you don't need the extra liquid. Let it simmer until beef is tender. When you are half way there, add carrots, potatoes, and green peppers. Let it simmer until vegetables are cooked. Mix a littie bit of the goulash sauce with two tablespoon of sour cream and add it to the pot for a thicker consistenency. Add a dash of worcester sauce at the end. Season to taste.

Meanwhile cook your elbow macaroni in a salted boiling water for 7 minutes. Let it drain and arrange it in the bottom of the pan. Top the macaroni with some parmesan cheese and pour the goulash on top. Put a dollop of sour cream if you like. 

While B is served on a bed of elbow macaroni. 

So much easier with the pressure cooker. The meat was so tender juicy. LOL!



Apple Strudel

Recipe was taken from Pepperidge Farm's website. Not sure if that an authentic Austrian strudel but close enough. HEHE! Just click the link.  Although the picture doesnt look as soon as mine. It was still good and B and I finished the whole log of strudel lol. I almost have to lick the ice cream off my plate. It was that good. So easy and simple to make too!

Freshl out of the oven.



Served with vanilla bean ice cream...yum!

You think if Mr. Puck would taste my versiof of goulash and strudel, he would have preferred mine over Richard Blaise's? Dream on! lol

I am off to Belgium on my next post with Around the World with Contessa . Focusing on Western Europe right now:-)

Have a great Monday!

Bisous, Contessa

A Filipino Comfort Food

My favorite childhood memory consisted of mischievous adventures with friends, birthday parties, christmas parties at school, and most of all my mom's special Sunday food! I had a lot of good memories growing up in the Philippines but one thing that I would keep craving for is my mom's cooking (thank God she lives just ten minutes away). Growing up in a small town, where majority of people grew their own food (ha! organic), we did not get to eat meat as often as we can because it was expensive. Our regular meal consisted of soup, vegetables, dried fish, fish, ramen noodles, and sardines. Mind you, it was still the best food and up to date, I still often crave for some sardines with rice. So, it is often a luxury for us when my mom would go to the city for grocery, which means hotdogs, cornbeef, and ham to stuff ourselves with until we get tired.

All of those are great memories that I will forever cherish, but, there is only one thing that I would always look forward to. Our Sunday lunch meal! Every Sunday after church, my mom heads over to the market to get the freshest vegetables and meat from the butcher. She would make a big pot of beef soup that consisted of potatoes, chinese cabbage, sweet potatoes, and plantains. I remember it being a very hearty and satisfying meal especially when it is served with rice.

On Sunday, I was rather feeling nostalgic thinking about my chilhood. It was cold outside and I wanted something very hearty to eat. Then, I thought about paying homage to my mom's Sunday meal. It is easily one of my favorite comfort foods that stays close to my heart. Now that I am comfortable in life and can afford to have as many meat as I want, I will still forever treasure those times.

Here is my own version of my mom's beef stew soup. It is very easy to prepare and make. The only thing that takes up your time is chopping all the ingredients. Once you have everything in the pot, you can resume other chores that you are doing.

Ingredients:

Grassfed Chuck Roast (this is what I had at the moment, you can use brisket, short ribs, etc). Cut this in cubes. Boil in at least 4 cups of water until tender along with chopped onions, bay leaves, peppercorns, and ginger. This will take atleast an hour or so. Since I used grassfed beef, it did have that much fat in it, so I didn't have to take out the fat scums floating on top while the the beef was boiling. Once your meat is tender, add the potatoes and sweet potatoes and wait until tender. Once the potatoes are cooked, seasoned to taste. I added a little fish sauce and some soy sauce for flavoring. Add your bokchoy and simmer a little bit. Please don't over cook your bokchoy. The steam alone can just easily cook the bokchoy. Serve with rice if you want or just have the soup alone. This was a hit with B! And I must say, I did my mommy proud:-) What about you? What is your favorite comfort food?

Have a great Thanksgiving mes amis!

Bisous,
Contessa