Beef Goulash

[IronEagle]

I like beef goulash. I have a good recipe for it which I'll do in a slow cooker.

Yesterday I am at a diner in Manhattan with a friend, and I see they have beef goulash on the menu. It says it is a "specialty of the house". So I'm like ok, I'll go for the Beef Goulash.

My friend orders a chicken quesadilla.

The waiter brings our dishes and tells my friend that the guacamole is "a little spicy". She starts eating it and it's so hot that she starts choking.

Meanwhile, I'm eating this goulash and it is totally bland. I eat about half of it and ask to take the rest home. Last night I spiced it up with Szegeo paprika and it became somewhat edible.

I think this place must have changed management recently. Should have known as when we went in it was a lot less crowded than it used to be.

[BigSlizz]

Did you ever go to Yaffa cafe at St. Marks and Ave A?

That was my go-to spot for casual eats. Apparently it got closed down because a neighbor complained about the noise. I was sad to hear that.

[IronEagle]

Did you ever go to Yaffa cafe at St. Marks and Ave A?

That was my go-to spot for casual eats. Apparently it got closed down because a neighbor complained about the noise. I was sad to hear that.

I never went there, but I know the location very well.

A lot of great places are closing down in the city. Usually because their lease is up and the landlord wants to jack the rent up. I think what happened with this place is the old management wanted to retire and sold out to some newcomers that are going to be in for a big surprise when the lease runs out.

The only good casual / hole in the wall places left around here seem to be the ones where the restaurant owner owns the building. For lunch it is getting to be that you are better off going to a food truck or cart these days.

[Two Gap Penetrator]

Bwah! I'll take the bait!

I love goulash!

[IronEagle]

I love goulash!

I'm sure you have a good goulash recipe. BTW this "Pride of Szegeo" Hot Paprika really does live up to the term HOT. I think they sell it in the supermarket near where I live b/c it used to be a Hungarian neighborhood.

[Two Gap Penetrator]

Szeged?

Is that what you mean?

[IronEagle]

Is that what you mean?

Yes Sir.

I guess I need glasses.

[Two Gap Penetrator]

Szeged is a place in Hungary

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sz...00c4290c1e1190

[IronEagle]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sz...00c4290c1e1190

This is the exact can I have:

[Two Gap Penetrator]

Yes, that's like the Budweiser of Hungarian paprikas

I never use hot paprika myself. Only sweet. This time of year (Easter), I am very much missing my grandmother's cooking and baking. I will never forget the smell of her house.

[IronEagle]

I never use hot paprika myself. Only sweet. This time of year (Easter), I am very much missing my grandmother's cooking and baking. I will never forget the smell of her house.

What's the best brand of well priced sweet paprika you can get here?

[BigSlizz]

The rent thing happened to my other favorite place, Scruffy Duffy's in Hell's Kitchen. That's a bummer, man. I probably wouldn't recognize NYC if I came back, and I haven't been gone that long.

[Two Gap Penetrator]

Honestly, I'm not sure

I get the stuff from family or I brought back a bunch the last time we were there. The smell and taste of the stuff is so good. The Szeged is solid though. Just make sure you get a fresh container of it because paprika is something that will lose it's flavor and aroma if you let it sit around too long. It will also turn from bright red to brown and that is not good eats visually.

[Two Gap Penetrator]

I'll send you a goulash recipe

I got this cookbook many years ago that was put out by these women at a Hungarian church in Cleveland and I've made many of the recipes and they are exactly what I remember from my youth. Let me try to dig it out tonight and I'll take a pic of it. Growing up we didn't have beef goulash that often because in Hungary my family rarely had beef, but we had it on special occasions.

[IronEagle]

I got this cookbook many years ago that was put out by these women at a Hungarian church in Cleveland and I've made many of the recipes and they are exactly what I remember from my youth. Let me try to dig it out tonight and I'll take a pic of it. Growing up we didn't have beef goulash that often because in Hungary my family rarely had beef, but we had it on special occasions.

Thanks! My mom has a similar cookbook from her mom's Polish Church in Nanticoke. I'm sure she still has it and I gotta find a way to make a copy of it.

With regards to the paprika, Szeged sells a sweet variety as well. I should try it out... gotta be better than McCormick, etc. sells.