This is comfort food at its finest. My whole family loves this.
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 3 teaspoons butter (i do not substitute margerine)
- 4 lbs beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
- 6 teaspoons paprika
- 3 large onions quartered
- 2 cans (14.5 oz) diced fire roasted tomatoes with garlic and onions
- 1/2 cup water cold
- 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour or wondra
- 1 -2 bags egg noodles
- Carbohydrate 10.4942646859538 g
- Cholesterol 3.81625 mg
- Fat 2.71658427081312 g
- Fiber 3.22988447305399 g
- Protein 4.47583354146063 g
- Saturated Fat 1.31772220833012 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (315g)
- Sodium 814.194177056875 mg
- Sugar 7.26438021289976 g
- Trans Fat 0.21292782291 g
- Calories 77 calories
Step-by-step
- Melt butter in a Dutch oven (or large skillet) on medium heat. Add beef and cook until meat is browned, stirring occationally, drain. NOTE: The meat might not be tender at this point depending on the cut but it will be by the end of cooking time.
- Stir in all remaining ingredients except water, flour and noodles. Heat to boiling, cover and reduce heat. Simmer approximately 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.
- During the last 20 minutes of cool time cook noodles in seperate pot as directed so everything is ready at the same time.
- Mix flour in the COLD water and gradually add into the beef mixture to thicken, while constantly stirring. Boil for 1 minute to heat thoroughly.
Swapping standard paprika for smoked Spanish varieties shifts this profile away from traditional Hungarian depth toward a heavily charred dimension, altering the foundational taste entirely. Achieving deep color on the beef requires a heavy cast-iron Dutch oven rather than a thin aluminum pan; aluminum lacks the thermal mass necessary to maintain high heat when four pounds of cold meat hit the surface. Crowding the pan creates steam rather than a crust, so sear the beef in two distinct batches if your vessel is under six quarts in capacity.
Searing caramelizes the exterior amino acids and sugars through the Maillard reaction, but it does not indicate interior doneness. Testing tenderness relies entirely on physical resistance rather than internal temperature readings. Piercing a cube of beef with the tip of a paring knife should yield zero structural pushback when the braise reaches completion; if the meat grips the blade, collagen has not fully converted into gelatin.
Thickening the sauce demands cold liquid hydration to prevent starches from seizing into lumps. Whisking all-purpose flour into cold water before integration allows individual starch granules to separate fully prior to thermal expansion. Boiling the final mixture for precisely sixty seconds eliminates the raw flour flavor while activating maximum thickening power from the wheat proteins. Leftovers store safely in an airtight container for up to four days, though starch retrogradation will require thinning the sauce with a splash of water during reheating.
