Sluttishly Savoury: Hungarian Goulash

This weekend, I discovered the brilliance of the slow cooker. It's possibly the most wonderful invention in the whole world (it's been sitting in Domestic Sluttery HQ's kitchen for the last four years, why has it taken me so long?) Why so wonderful? You can wake up, throw your yummy dinner into the cooker, leave to bubble away whilst you go back to bed and sleep through your hangover. When you wake up, your dinner is ready! That's what I did on Sunday anyway. I'm pretty certain that the inventor of the slow cooker was a fan of champagne and dancing about until 5am.

My dish of choice was Hungarian Goulash, and despite never using a slow cooker before, it seemed to work. But, as with most things in a slow cooker, the longer you cook them, the better they are. I overslept so cooked on high for five hours. This dish would be so much better if you can cook it for 8. Don't have a slow cooker? Gas mark 1-2 will work just fine if you keep an eye on it.

Goulash is a wonderful thing. Spicy, interesting and a much more interesting alternative to a beef casserole. But if you've tried it before the aforementioned time, don't expect it to taste great - the longer it cooks the more everything works together. But it's not until you put the sour cream in that it really comes into its own.

This recipe served six, just about. I'd suggest serving this for four and keeping any yummy leftovers for lunch the next day. It's traditionally served with spätzel (egg noodles, with butter) but I served mine with wild rice. Mash or fresh bread would work just as well.

You'll need:

• 1 kilo casserole beef/stewing steak
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 Tablespoon Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
• 2 tablespoons Paprika
• 1 teaspoon Hot Paprika
• Three springs of thyme
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 200ml Sour cream

Make it!

Throw everything apart from the sour cream into the slow cooker, mix it all up until the meat is completely covered with the mixture. Leave cooking on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours. Go back to bed, sleep off the hangover and wake up to tasty tasty goulash. If the mixture needs thickening, just add in some more flour, mixing properly. Put the sour cream in about half an hour before you've finished cooking.

Flickr image from Jametiks' photostream.