Wildschweingulasch Sankt Hubertus

(Goulash of Wild Boar St. Hubert)

November 3: Feast Day of St. Hubert

For our 10th anniversary, we returned to Oahu and renewed our vows by the beach. A few guests from the mainland attended our milestone event in Hawaii so we planned to play tourists with our friends around the island during our two-week vacation. While visiting the Marquesas Village at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Highlander participated in a mock wild boar hunt. It was a humiliating yet humorous sign of affection for Islander. Of the three “warriors” who demonstrated their love for their women, we were together the longest, followed by two other newlyweds!

Wild boar is not only hunted in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands but also in Western Europe where St. Hubert is known to be the patron saint of hunters. The recipe we are featuring for his feast day originally includes wild boar meat. But we used pork for this hearty stew instead. This goulash is great for the cooler days of fall and for the Feast Day of St. Hubert.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf)

Ingredients

• ¾ pound wild boar meat (we substituted this with lean pork)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup carrot, diced
• ½ cup leek, finely sliced
• ¾ cup beer
• 4 tablespoons constarch
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 cup meat stock
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon thyme

Directions

Slice the vegetables. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt, pepper, caraway seeds, marjoram and the lemon rind. In a large skillet, fry the meat in olive oil until brown. Transfer to a casserole dish.

In the same skillet, saute the onions, carrots and leek. Add the beer and cook for a minute, scraping the brown bits in the skillet. Pour over the meat. Cover the casserole dish and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for one hour or until tender.

Make a paste with the cornstarch and vinegar. Mix this in a small bowl with the meat stock, maple syrup, tomato paste, yogurt, rosemary and thyme. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish and stir to combine with the meat and vegetables. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Notes

• The cookbook author recommends serving the goulash with noodles, spätzle or crusty bread.
• As this is a Deutsch dish, use a German beer as an ingredient.