 “Gazza, aka Gazzman, aka Gary has been part of the furniture at Abel & Cole for almost as long as I have,” says Keith Abel. “He’s also one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met, and he has the charisma to make whatever he’s doing seem like the best thing in the world. Yes, even eating dumplings.”
Ingredients
(Serves 6)
2 glugs of olive oil
1kg (2¼lb) braising beef, such as chuck or blade, cut into 2.5cm (1in) chunks
2 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika (a very mild paprika)
2 tbsp tomato purée
4 mugs of chicken or beef stock, plus more if you need it
2 bay leaves
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm (½in) dice
Lots of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Soured cream, to serve
The dumplings
1 egg
½ mug of water
1 tsp salt
1 mug of plain flour
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
Method
Heat a glug or two of olive oil in a large, heavy-based lidded pot, add the beef and brown it, then remove with a slotted spoon. You may have to cook the beef in batches so the pot is not overcrowded.
Once the beef is out of the way, fry the onions for 3-4 minutes. Return the beef to the pot and throw in the garlic, paprika and tomato purée and give this a good stir around for a few minutes. Add the stock and bay leaves and simmer with the lid on for 45 minutes over a very low heat.
While the pot is boiling away, prepare your dumplings: mix the egg, water and salt together, and then add the flour, combine it and mix in the rosemary. Let the mixture rest for about 20 minutes or so.
Once the pot has been simmering for 45 minutes, add the potatoes and more stock I needed - you need the goulash to be quite wet for the dumplings to cook.
After about 15 minutes, when the potatoes are tender, add the dumplings by dolloping one teaspoon of the mix at a time into the pot. Return the lid and leave this to cook for 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with a dollop of soured cream.
Aga method
2,3 and 4-Oven Aga
Brown the meat and onions in a pan on the hotplates, add the seasonings and stock. Bring to the boil and place on the floor of the simmering oven for about an hour. Add the potatoes, bring back to the boil and return to the simmering oven. After 15 minutes add the dumplings, return to the oven and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
This recipe is from Cooking Outside the Box by Keith Abel, Collins, priced at £17.99
For more recipes from the book see Aga magazine, Issue 1. To subscribe to the magazine visit www.agamagazine.co.uk
|
