Rindsgulasch (Austrian Beef Stew)

December 13: National Beef Stew Day

At our library culinary club meetings, members were able to bring food to share and we enjoyed a variety of dishes that we could see and taste. But the pandemic forced everyone to show-and-tell (and not taste) on Zoom from home. When in-person meetings resumed, the library staff did not allow potluck items anymore. So members now have to bring photos of our food. 

Well, at the “soups and stews” theme meeting, someone made goulash (and unfortunately it looked ghoulish in the picture). Although it appeared unappetizing, we are sure it tasted fine—not everyone, including us, is a professional photographer. We use a small old digital camera to take pictures of the process of cooking and then our camera phone to snap the final food photo. Our backgrounds are table linens, bed sheets, scrapbook paper and even clothes (the burgundy background above is actually an apron)! Just photograph the food in natural light, get close up to show details of the dish, accessorize with utensils/napkins/garnishes and have a simple background. Our camera phone is able to do minor edits to the photo to make the colors a little brighter. Since that “soups and stews” theme meeting, members have been trying to improve their food presentation as well. We are all a work in progress!

Here is an Austrian beef stew recipe, rindsgulasch, that we—neither professional chefs nor photographers—made for National Beef Stew Day. We hope culinary club members and our blog readers think it looks as good as it tastes. 

Recipe
(Adapted from Chef Franco Lania)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped 
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree (see Notes)
• 5 cups beef stock
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1-2 teaspoons ground caraway seeds (see Notes)
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf

Directions

Rinse beef and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat Dutch oven with oil to medium high. Brown the beef and set aside to a plate. To the same pot, saute the onions and garlic, scraping up any bits from the bottom.

Mix in the paprika. Pour in the beef stock, red wine vinegar and tomato puree. Add the reserved beef and its juices. Stir well. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.

Add the caraway seeds, marjoram, salt and pepper to taste and bay leaf. Remove from the stove. Cover the pot and cook in preheated oven at 350 degrees F for an hour or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Ladle into bowls. Serve hot with slices of crusty bread.

Notes

• We cut up and put a small Roma tomato in our Nutribullet/blender and pureed it for this recipe.
• Caraway seeds give this Austrian dish its unique flavor. The original recipe uses ground caraway seeds. We used them whole.
• Search our blog for other beef stew recipes.