Hungarian Goulash with Caraway Seed Dumplings

Yet again, we made another of my mum's excellent recipes for Sunday night dinner. Whilst a casserole isn't what I'd normally chose to eat in July, considering the ridiculous weather we've had over the weekend, I welcomed this warming casserole. Dumplings are the ultimate in comfort food, and the caraway seeds add a delicious perfumey flavour. This recipe is originally from an 80's Good Housekeeping casserole book, but as they say, you can't improve on a classic, so I don't think it needs updating.

The dumplings are a bit of a faff to make, but well worth it. The dough is very sticky so you'll probably end up with half of it stuck to your hands, remember they expand as they steam so they only need to be the size of a golf ball when they go in the oven. Whilst 4 tbsp of paprika sounds like an awful lot, it isn't at all overwhelming. 

Serves 4-6
800g pork leg, diced
4 onions, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
100g button mushrooms, cut into quarters
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml beef stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
4 tbsp white wine

For the dumplings:
225g self raising flour
125g butter
5 tbsp cold water
2 tsp caraway seeds
150ml sour cream

1. Heat a tbsp of oil in a casserole dish and brown the meat in batches. Remove the meat from the pan and add the onion, carrot, mushrooms and garlic, add a little extra oil if necessary. Cook for 10-15 minutes until soft
2. Add the paprika and flour to the vegetables and mix thoroughly. Allow to cook for a further 3 minutes
3. Add the white wine and allow to cook off. Next add the beef stock and season, bring to a simmer and put in the oven on 130 degrees for 2 hours
4. In the meantime, make the dumplings. In a large bowl, rub together the butter and flour until it is thoroughly mixed together. Add the water, caraway seeds and sour cream and kneed with your hands until you have a smooth dough. Make the mixture into 16 small dumplings
5. After 2 hours in the oven, take the goulash out and pop the dumplings on top. Add an extra sprinkling of caraway seeds and put back in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until they have swollen to twice the size. Serve with cabbage or greens of your choice 

Meat & LOTS of veg:

Chris' handiwork with the dumplings:

 Dumplings ready to steam:

 Delicious plump dumplings:

Served with cabbage:

Spiced Pork Medallions with Flageolet Beans

This is one of my favourite recipes of my mum's, so I decided to cook it for Chris to welcome him home from a long trip to Wales. Despite not looking particularly appetising it really does taste delicious. Mopping up the rich, creamy sauce with crusty bread is, to my mind, what comfort food is all about - yum!

Serves 4
400g pork fillet, trimmed and cut across the grain into 1cm slices
400g tin flageolet beans
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp paprika
1 large onion chopped
6 fresh sage leaves
200ml vegetable stock
100ml dry white wine
3 tbsp creme fraiche

1. Mix the flour and paprika on a plate and coat the slices of fillet in the mix
2. Fry the meat in hot oil until browned and set aside
3. Add the onion to pan and fry on a low heat until soft. Next add the wine and allow to cook off
4. Add the sage, drained beans, stock & meat and cook for 10 minutes. Add the creme fraiche, discard the sage and serve with warm crusty bread and tender stem broccoli

Cooking away:

It looks bad, but tastes scrumptious: