Goulash

It's simmering on the stove and it smells amazing. Must be the lard. 

This was a very simple recipe. It simmers for nearly three hours, so it's better made ahead of time, but it doesn't take much effort once the vegetables are all cut up. You don't even have to brown the meat. I know next to nothing about sausage, so I bought Andouille, the only sausage that was smoked at Trader Joe's. It was pretty fiery but it tasted great- though I wish I could have tried the recipe with a more authentic sausage, whatever that would have been. I used the meat that I had, which was just over 2 pounds of a cut I think was called rib steak. It was tough with lots of connective tissue, but after the long simmer it was completely tender.

Another winner from the Countess. 

Ingredients:
2 pounds of beef cut into 1 inch cubes
1 or 2 smoked sausages, sliced 
3 medium onions sliced thinly
2 diced tomatoes
2 red or green bell peppers, peeled if you like and thinly sliced
2 or 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons paprika
6 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons lard, olive oil, or butter
salt

Directions:
Heat up the lard, olive oil, or butter in a large pan. Fry the onion in it until it is light golden. Add the cubed beef, the tomatoes, the chopped bell peppers, the paprika, and some salt. Simmer it very gently for 45 minutes. The salt will draw out moisture from the vegetables and it will create enough juice to simmer in. Slowly add the 6 cups of hot water, cover the pan, and let it continue to simmer for another 2 hours. Half an hour before serving add the potatoes, and 10 minutes before serving add the sausage. 

The finished product with a dollop of carrot-top pesto because I had it on hand.

Thank you, Countess Morphy!