Goulash a supper open to variation

The hardest part of making dinner is figuring out what to cook, right? Sometimes the hardest part of writing is figuring out what to write about, too. That’s why I welcome your questions! This week, though, my idea for a supper and column came from my husband, Jamie, who said, “How about goulash?” Well, yeah, how about it?

Most of us have about 20 things we make for our regular meals, and goulash, neither Hungarian nor American, is on my list though I couldn’t say why. It turns out that Jamie was thinking American, but I looked up about the Hungarian one, which is very beef-stewlike with lots of paprika, but has no trace of tomatoes or green pepper in it. It has dumplings instead of some sort of pasta and needs to be cooked

slowly.

American Goulash, on the other hand, goes together pretty quickly, and it does have tomatoes and green peppers, and no paprika. Some recipes say to use a can of tomatoes without draining them and put uncooked noodles in the pan where they cook in the extra liquid. Some recipes have you make the goulash in a skillet, others have you finish it in the oven with crumbs sprinkled on the top. So it looks to me that there is considerable opportunity here for variation, and I bet after you make it once, you won’t need a recipe for it ever again. This is another economical meal, and with a nice salad on the side and some steamed broccoli or the like is a good little supper. You could even make it with ground turkey if you want to forego hamburger, or if you have a hunter in the family, this recipe is suitable for deer or moose burger, too. If you use wild game, you may need to add a little vegetable oil or bacon fat.

Next week, we will go upscale with veal scaloppini.

Send queries or answers to Sandy Oliver, 1061 Main Road, Islesboro 04848. E-mail: tastebuds@prexar.com. For recipes, tell us where they came from. List ingredients, specify number of servings and do not abbreviate measurements. Include name, address and daytime phone number.

American Goulash

Serves 4-6

8 ounces macaroni or 13/4 cups

1 pound of ground meat

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 large (28 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes

Basil and marjoram to taste

Salt and pepper

Cook and drain the macaroni. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet, add the chopped onion, green pepper, and celery, and cook until the vegetables are tender. If necessary, drain off excess fat. Add the tomatoes with the liquid and the cooked macaroni. Add the seasonings to taste. Cook together for about 20 minutes, watching it to make sure it does not cook dry, and adding a little hot water if necessary.