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This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Hungarian Beef Stew

This recipe must have a misprint in it, because after seeing the amount of leeks versus the amount of broth the stew called for, it just wasn't going to work.

I cooked the meat with the amount of broth it called for, and that was fine, but once the leeks went in, there was no way the leeks were going to wilt up with that little broth. I ended up doubling the broth, which is fine as that's one quart of broth, and what I usually use in stew.

And it came out amazing. Who knew the problem wasn't going to be "three leeks is a LOT" and instead was "this is NOT enough broth?"

The recipe below has the correct amount of broth.

# Hungarian Beef Stew
Easy Basics for Good Cooking

2.0 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 pounds beef chuck (cut into 1 inch cubes)
1.0 quart beef broth
1.0 clove garlic (minced)
1.0 tbsp paprika
3.0 whole leeks
1.0 whole bell pepper
0.5 pound small mushrooms
0.25 cup whipping cream
1.0 tbsp cornstarch
2.0 tbsp sherry
salt
pepper

1 - Heat oil in a 5-quart kettle over medium-high heat.
2 - Add meat, a few pieces at a time, and cook until browned on all sides.
3 - Stir in broth, garlic, sherry and paprika.
4 - Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until meat is tender when pierced (about 1 hour).
5 - Meanwhile, trim and discard tops from leeks, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of green leaves.
6 - Split leeks lengthwise, rinse well, then cut into 1-inch lengths.
7 - Seed pepper and cut into 1-inch squares.
8 - Add leeks, pepper, and mushrooms to meat.
9 - Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender when pierced (15 to 20 minutes).
10 - Stir in cream and cornstarch mixture; cook, stirring, over high heat until thickened.
11 - Season to taste with salt and pepper.

#cooking #thisweeksmeals