kalichel | Imamother

zaq

Thu, May 05 2011, 8:44 am

Make stew, of course! call it tzimmes or call it goulash and don't ask me what the diff is b/c I haven't a clue.

OK, you dragged it out of me: Zaq's Mom's Goulash or Meat Tzimmes: Take a pound or two of beef cubes or calechl or any tough cut that the butcher tells you requires long, slow cooking. If it's not already cut into chunks of about 2 inches, cut it up. Put in a heavy pot, cover with cold water. Add a bay leaf or two and some peppercorns. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer about an hour. Then add an onion, cut into chunks or sliced; as many large carrots cut into chunks as you want, depending on how much Vitamin A you want your kids to get, but at least 2-3; anywhere from 2-3 cloves to an entire head of fresh garlic, depending on how much of a garlicaholic you are; an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes, then add 2-3 large potatoes cut into chunks, a teaspoon of paprika, and, if you like, some rosemary or thyme, which my mom never used but which I might if I happen to have any of that stuff around. They taste like cough medicine to me, but it does sound pretty and people are impressed if you say you use it. If you want sweet-and-sour, something that sounds impossible to me, add a tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar. If you're using it as a side dish or you're trying to cut down on consumption of red meat, use more veggies. You can also vary it by adding cut-up bell peppers of any color. I do that only if bell peppers are cheap.

Continue simmering until the meat is soft. Keep an eye on it and add more water if need be.
That's the official story line. What I really do is add all the seasonings and veggies together with the tomato sauce and go online till the smoke alarm goes off.