German Gulaschsuppe (Beef Paprika Stew)

Awhile ago, I was slowly caramelizing some onions and browning beef cubes intending to make some beef curry, when I suddenly thought Gulaschsuppe, and that sounded a lot more interesting than curry. I asked Michael which he'd prefer, and after a moment's thought we agreed that a nice spicy stew was a good idea.

I have realized that this dish is as close to a 'signature' dish as I've got. The one that my children will remember many years of sitting down to it for dinner.... the one I know will be well received (at least by those who like spicy) at any potluck I might attend.  It is surely the recipe I've been making the longest that I still enjoy eating!

This is a popular German stew/soup - some areas will add peppers to it, others will remove the potatoes and just make it about the beef.  It wouldn't be traditional - but I think sweet potatoes could be happily swapped out for the potatoes.  I made a couple minor changes to my usual recipe this go-round - I used tallow instead of olive oil (it was, simply, what was at hand). I like using tallow to brown beef because it adds a rich, meaty taste and lets the meat brown really well while remaining tender.  I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar along with the wine when I deglazed  the pot, again, because it was at hand.  It smelled good! I'm not sure if it did anything particularly different from the wine, but everything came out quite rich and hearty.

Here's the recipe:

Gulaschsuppe
Serves 4-6

2 T. olive oil (or tallow, coconut oil, etc)
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lb beef, cubed into bite sized pieces
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup red wine
6 med thin skinned potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
32 oz beef broth
water
3 bay leaves
2 T. caraway seeds
1 T. hot Hungarian paprika
2 T. sweet Hungarian paprika
1 small can tomato paste

Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is caramelized.  Scrape pot and add beef, browning well .. the crusty bits add to the flavor. (Don't burn.)  Scrape the pot again and add the wine and balsamic vinegar, which will deglaze the pot - let it simmer on low until the wine has almost entirely evaporated.

Add broth, bay leaves, caraway seeds and paprikas, and let simmer for as long as you've got time for... I like to give it at least an hour, but less is fine, as long as you let it cook long enough to tenderize the beef. 

Add potato cubes and enough water to cover plus about 1 inch above, and bring to boil.  When potatoes are tender, add tomato paste, lower to a simmer and let cook for about another 15 minutes.

If you like, give it another splash of wine just before serving.

I also served this with the Grain-Free Biscuits that have become our go-to choice for bread, when we need some.  One a whim, I tossed about a 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese into the batter, and they turned out really moist and delicious that way!
 

Roasted Potatoes with Shallots

Just a quick little entry, to show off a delightful way to prepare potatoes.

Last night, we had a delicious roast chicken with swiss chard, and these delightful roasted potatoes and shallots.

Other than the chicken, everything came from the farmer's market, and the potatoes were the star of the show.

The little red potatoes turned out to have a rosy pink interior (it was all caramel brown after cooking), very pretty little things, and they taste amazing.


Roasted Potatoes with Shallots


4-6 red potatoes, depending on size
8-12 shallots
olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1/2 t. dried rosemary (or a fresh rosemary sprig)

The prep was very simple - washed and unpeeled, quartered potatoes, tossed in olive oil with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.  Roast at 400F in a baking dish for 30 minutes, then add peeled, halved fresh shallots, toss with more olive oil and little bit of dried rosemary (or throw on a fresh rosemary sprig) and bake for another hour, until everything is richly caramelized.

The potatoes will have a crispy outside and buttery inside and the shallots will be tender and sweet.  Amazing, earthy, and we'll be doing this one a lot.

Review: Sweet Pea Box PART ONE

Reviewer: Jackie Snider

I had never been a shop-o-holic for clothes. Then I had a daughter.

It became a sickness. I just loved new clothes for her. I didn’t care if they were brand new, given to me, thrift shop, yard sales, etc. Of course actually caring for the small child left little time to do the shopping.

At Sweet Pea Box they take all the work out of getting amazing new clothes for your little ones. Once a month you can have a box of 4,6, or 8 items shipped right to your door.
 

I was asked for my daughter’s age, size, gender and a style preference. Sizing was really difficult to decide because my daughter is VERY tall, yet has almost no waist. For her arms and legs we normally have to get 3t-4t. However if length isn’t an issue, I can still fit her into 12-18m shorts/skirts. It’s insane. So I was a little nervous!

As for style I was given the option of athletic, comfy, country, princess, playful, preppy, and hipster. I told them I’d love a mix except for country (I really don’t like ruffles and such) When signing up through their website you can also choose color preference (brights, pastels, darks, whites, earth tones, and Any) as well as leave the stylist any additional requests of clothing to add or even exclude.

When the box arrived it was very exciting. My daughter absolutely loves getting mail for herself! When we check the mail she will ask ‘but did you check if there is anything for me?’ I think she thinks she has her very own mailbox and it makes her really sad on days there is nothing for her.

She immediately had to try them on. It was a box of 6 pieces, which came in the form of three adorable outfits.
 

This was her favorite of them all, probably because of the tutu aspect. It is a shirt with a tutu and a faux sweater (it is all sewn together as one piece) and plain black leggings. It all fit her well. The pants were certainly loose around the waist but since they are leggings they stay on just fine.

This was my favorite in the box. It looks really good on her and fits well. The sleeves are a little long but it still looks really cute. It comes with black leggings with a small grey flower to match the long sleeve shirt.
 

While we all thought this outfit was very cute, it was just too wide for her small frame. Hailey chose a friend that she wanted to give it to for Christmas, and it fit that girl perfectly. It was a really thick, warm top and funky matching leggings.

I really liked that they were all leggings as that really helped them fit her without having to put drastically different sizes together. I also liked that they were seasonally conscious and all included warm long sleeved tops. I do wish there was a little more diversity in the bottoms. Two pieces were black leggings, one just had a small grey flower on it.

This box would have cost $40. I find that to be more than reasonable for 3 whole outfits, especially of that quality. I didn’t notice with all of them, but I did see that one had a ‘suggested retain price’ of $46, so you know these are not cheap clothes. A 4-piece box would cost just $30, and the 8 pieces would run $50.

I contacted the company once with a concern I had. Two of the outfits still have store tags on them, while one not only didn’t have a new tag, but the inside clothing tag was also roughly cut out with scissors. The website says all clothing is 100% new, so I was a little confused by that. They pointed me to a disclaimer on their site which states that some distributors require this if they have a brick and mortar store. That way customers wouldn't be able to get them from the box and return them to a store for much more than they got them through Sweet Pea Box. It makes complete sense to me.

I definitely recommend this subscription box to any parent out there. They have sizes ranging from 0-3 months all the way to size 8. You can get for both girls and boys, and you can even split the box between siblings! It is like having a personal shopper for your children that will supply you with adorable, good quality clothes, and best yet- it’s a surprise!

I do wish that there were an option for shoes as well, though.

Keep an eye out for Part Two next month, as I will be reviewing consistency in the products! I can’t wait to buy this box for my daughter again and again! They definitely have a forever customer in me.
 
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Website: Sweet Pea Box 
 

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This post was originally posted at WAHM Review and is being cross posted here by the original author.  I received no monetary compensation for this review, however I was provided with the product for free for purposes of review.  All opinions are my own. Click here see our full disclosure policy.