Merlin's world-class beef goulash for spice junkies

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 500 g beef goulash
• 400 ml red wine
• 50 ml tomato(s), strained
• 100 ml vegetable broth, strong, double the amount of powder
• 5 tbsp oil, or lard, for frying
• 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 red bell pepper(s)
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 small eggplant(s)
• 2 small onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5 sprigs rosemary, fresh
• Salt
• 7 sprigs of thyme, fresh
• 4 sprigs of marjoram, fresh
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 allspice berries
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 10 grains of white pepper
• 10 grains of black pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 3 tsp paprika powder, sweet
• 3 cloves
• 3 dried chili peppers, e.g. Rawit
• 3 tsp sugar
• 50 g butter
• 1 tbsp Flour, Type 405

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 20 minutes

There are two ways to prepare goulash. For those who don’t like it too spicy, I recommend using a spice bag. For those who like it extra spicy, I recommend leaving the spices in the sauce. I use a cast-iron roasting pan for cooking. Chop the vegetables as desired. Peel and halve the onion. Peel the garlic and press it in lightly. Add oil to the roasting pan and heat until hot enough to sear the meat. Then tie the rosemary, thyme, and coriander sprigs together with kitchen string. Place the remaining spices in a tea or coffee filter, tie it with kitchen string, and add both to the roasting pan. Alternatively, simply add all the herbs to the roasting pan after searing the meat. Then add the passata. After 2 minutes, add the vegetables and pour in the red wine, stock, and balsamic vinegar. You can also add the sugar at this point. Let the whole thing simmer for 2 hours. Afterwards, you should always test the meat to make sure it doesn’t become too soft and fall apart. Beef often behaves very differently. In the meantime, make a roux from butter and flour by heating the butter and whisking in the flour until there are no lumps and it browns lightly. Then let the roux cool. When the goulash is cooked, pour the sauce into a pan and stir in enough roux until the desired consistency is reached. Then mix the sauce back in with the meat and serve with the desired side dish. Potatoes or dumplings and red cabbage are recommended as a side dish, but pasta and rice with salad are also good options.