Ingredients:

• Approximately 1.5 to 2 lbs chuck roast
• 4 strips of thick sliced bacon
• 3 medium sized onions
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 2 cups chicken stock (about 1 can).
• 2 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika
• 3 large Portobello mushroom caps
• 1 bell pepper
• Crème fraiche
• Finely chopped chives (for garnish).

Instructions:

Preparation:
Cut the beef into cubes; coarsely chop the bacon, the onions, and the bell pepper.

Cooking:
Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat, and season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Add oil and brown the beef in batches, then set aside. Clean the Dutch oven and return to the stove on medium high heat.

Brown the bacon; add the onions and cook in the bacon fat until brown around the edges. Make a clearing in the center of the pot; add the tomato paste, and stir for a few seconds (this intensifies and sweetens the flavor of the tomato paste).

Mix all ingredients in the pot and then add the beef, including any accumulated juices. Stir and then add the chicken stock. Add the paprika, and while waiting for the ingredients to boil, wash and chop the mushroom caps into coarse pieces. Add the mushroom, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beef start to become tender. (To check tenderness, remove a piece of meat and try cutting it with a fork.) While simmering, continually taste and adjust for salt.

When beef is just about tender (it is fairly easy to cut with a fork), add the bell-pepper. Uncover, raise the temperature, and bring to a boil to reduce cooking liquid to the desired amount. Add couple dollops of crème fraiche and cook until sauce has desired thickness.

Serving:
Serve in bowls with French bread for dipping. Garnish with chives.

Notes:

The most important ingredient in guyás is the sweet Hungarian paprika, so use a good quality brand. My favorite is from The Spice House

Sour cream may be used instead of crème fraiche. However, add the sour cream when serving since cooking causes it to curdle.

Used organic grass-fed beef! It may be more expensive, but it taste better and is much healthier.

Frying the spices intensifies the flavors and aromas since many of their chemical compounds are oil-soluble. Using the spice mixture as a seasoning results in a blander curry. This method can be good for meats that have a pronounced but delicate flavor, like goat. Strongly flavored oil, like extra-virgin olive oil, should be not used. Browning the meat makes no difference when making a dry curry, but will improve the flavor of a milder, wet curry.

The distinguishing feature of any curry is of course the spice mixture (sometimes called a ‘masala’). There are many varieties of curry powders and some are quite good. For curries, like the Thai variety, the spice mixture is often assembled into a paste. (Thai red curry paste gets its color from dried red chilies while the green curry paste gets its color form fresh green chilies; the Massaman curry paste (my favorite) contains some spices such as coriander and cumin.)

A much tastier and unique curry powder is produced with a homemade mixture. Making your own curry powder is just a matter of assembling the spices, often toasting them, and then using a grinder of some sort (any good coffee grinder will work fine). Since I have been making my own curry powder – which does not require much time – I am reluctant to use any store bought brand. Making a Thai curry paste takes can be time consuming if using a mortar and pestle, but a good store bought brand can serve as a decent substitute.

The curry powder I use depends on the type of curry I wish make. A lot of coriander gives a fresh, lemony flavor, so I increase the ratio of coriander in my chicken curry. Cumin, when heavily toasted, develops a rich, smoky aroma and earthy flavor; this is perfect for beef and duck curries. Below is approximately the blend I use for making chicken curry.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1.5 – 2 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 5 cardamon pods, seeds only.
• 1 tablespoon tumeric powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

Instructions:
Lightly toast each spice separately (to prevent burning). Grind and use within a few days.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, about 3-3½ lbs and cut into 8 pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 oz Portobello mushrooms
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• About 1½ tablespoon floor
• 1½ cups red wine
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 14½ oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh sage, minced

Instructions:

Clean and dry the chicken pieces with paper towel, and then season with salt and pepper. In a large dutch over, heat oil over medium high heat and brown the chicken skin side down (don’t overcrowd the pot). Remove chicken set aside.

Remove excess oil and leave enough to fry onions. Wash and then chop the mushrooms into approximately one inch pieces. Add the onion and mushroom, along with some salt, and fry until well brown (6-8 minutes). Add garlic and fry until fragrant. Add floor and stir constantly for about a minute, then add the wine and stir to eliminate any lumps. Add stock, tomatoes, and thyme and bring to a boil. Taste for seasoning. At this point, the sauce will be slightly tangy due to wine, but it will mellow out during cooking. Return browned chicken pieces to the pot and and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Add sage when cooking is finished, and serve.

¹This recipe was borrowed from cooksillustrated.com.

So here is the recipe. This dish starts off with a marinade for the chicken made of ground cumin, ground coriander, and garlic. I have whole cumin and coriander seeds which I lightly roasted before grinding into a powder. Since roasting cumin gives it a stronger, smoky flavor, I usually use less cumin and more coriander for dishes requiring a more subtle flavor from the spices. You should also include achiote (annatto) powder in the marinade to give it an authentic flavor and color. I couldn’t find this anywhere, so I used saffron instead (which I added when cooking the rice). Even thought it is optional, adding beer to further cook the chicken does give a really good flavor.

Ingredients:

• one whole chicken (about 3 pounds), cut into large pieces
• ½ tbs ground cumin
• 1 tbs ground coriander
• 10 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• ½ cup green olives
• 1 cup beer
• 3 cups rice
• pinch of saffron
• 4 cups water or broth
• Cilantro for granish

Instructions:

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces. Crush about 8 cloves of garlic, and add to cumin and coriander to from a thick paste for the marinade. Rub over pieces of chicken and set aside. Chop the remaining garlic, the onion, tomatoes, bell-pepper and olives.

Heat oil in a large pan, brown the chicken (in batches if necessary) and then set aside. To the remaining oil, add the onions, garlic and bell-pepper. Cook until soften, and return the chicken to the pan. Add the tomatoes and cook for a while (until chicken is mostly done). Add beer, and cook until most of the liquid is gone.

Add the rice, water (or broth), saffron and olives. Cook until rice is done. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Notes:

One thing I initially didn’t like about this recipe is that it came out slightly bitter, and this was primarily because of the olives. The flavor was better the next day, and I even enjoyed the light bitterness. The next time I make it, I probably will add something sweeter, like green peas, instead of olives.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pasta nuggets
• 1-1.5 cup pesto
• 1lb sausage
• 1 cup of sundried tomatoes + roasted bell pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• grated Parmesan cheese
• salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes

Instructions:

Preparation:
Bring a pot of enough salted water to boil. Cut the sausages into bite sizes pieces, and finely chop the garlic.

Cooking:

Add the pasta to the boiling water and brown the sausages in large pan. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat, add the sundried tomatoes and bell-pepper, and stir well.

After the pasta is al-dente, drain and immediately add to the sausages. Mix well; add the pesto and black pepper.

Serving:
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients:

• chorizo (about 1/2 lb)
• Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas), 19 oz can, drained and rinsed
• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2-3 medium sized tomatoes
• parsley, coarsely chopped

Instructions:

Chop the chorizo whichever way you like, but preferably into pieces you can pick up with a fork. Saute the chorizo ( the sausage will render some fat, so be careful with the oil). Afterwards, add the onions and garlic, and cook until the onion are translucent.

Add the Garbanzo beans, and mix well. Mix in the tomatoes and parsley, and briefly cook until the tomatoes warm through.

Notes:
Try using less chorizo and adding ham, along with some spinach. Variations on the type sausages, like Andouille or some other type of spicy smoked sausage, might be good idea.