Goulash Delight with Gnocchi

Passport & Plate - Dalmatian Goulash Delight

Croatia | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 3 photos

Ingredients
Goulash Beef Stew
1kg whole Beef loin
500g finely diced carrots
2 rashers of bacon diced
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
30ml red wine vinegar
½ C red wine
1 C water
3 cloves
1 sticks of celery finely chopped
2 large brown onions, quartered
1 handful of chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
100ml Dalmatian ‘Prosek’ (a sweet traditional Croatian wine) but this could be substituted for muscat or 1Tbsp honey
30g butter
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Cold Pressed Extra Virgin olive oil for browning

Gnocchi
800g potatoes (washed), peeled, cut into pieces
Salt & ground white pepper
1 egg, lightly whisked
300g (2 cups) plain flour
20g (1/4 cup) finely grated parmesan
Plain flour, to dust

 

How to prepare this recipe
Goulash
Make small holes in the beef loin with a sharp knife and push in pieces of the garlic and bacon.
Place the beef in a pot and cover with red wine vinegar, red wine and water if necessary to ensure the meat is covered. Add the cloves, the carrot, celery, parsley and onion. Cover and leave it for 24 hours.
Next day remove the meat from the liquid and fry meat in butter to brown it on all sides. Keep the liquid to one side but do not throw out.
Put it on the stove and cook for two hours in the liquid where meat was marinated. Add some rosemary, bay leaves, salt, pepper.
Slice the meat to your desired size.
Puree the remaining vegetable and the liquid.
Add some prunes and honey and muscat wine if you have some.
Put the meat back in the liquid and reheat the mixture.
Place the gnocchi on a plate and cover with delicious Goulash.
Enjoy your meal!

Gnocchi
Boil potatoes until tender.
Drain water and use a potato masher to mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Add an egg and stir until mixed. Add half the flour and stir until combined. Add the remaining flour, in 2 more batches, until well combined and a firm dough forms. (If dough is too soft, add more flour.) Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth or your hands get tired!
On the board roll out pieces of dough into a 2cm-diameter log about 30cm long. Cut into 2cm pieces.
Use your thumb to roll each ball over a floured fork. Place on tray.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil over medium heat. Add one-quarter of gnocchi (drop onto base of pan in a single layer, but don't overcrowd as they can stick together) and cook for 3 minutes or until they float. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl.
Repeat until all gnocchi is cooked.

 

The story behind this recipe
I don’t have a large family and although there are absolutely great cooks in the family (yes that means you Dad!), there isn’t necessarily that one unique recipe which has been passed down generation after generation. Instead I go travelling and I search for, discover and experience the legacy recipes belonging to other families. This recipe for Dalmatian Goulash (or Pasticada/beef stew) represents one of those meals you chance upon and savour; one where you spend the rest of your trip marvelling at your good fortune in finding it or which provides a taste that forever will transport you back for the full sensory experience to the meal’s setting. A local tip off led me to Robinson, a secluded, family owned and run restaurant set in a pristine bay on the Croatian island of Hvar. Robinson is accessible only by boat or a stunning half hour walk on a coastal track and in true Crusoe fashion, it was enough to make me feel marooned on a deserted island. All seating was outdoors overlooking the almost private beach with its pristine water and shaded by a cluster of fruit bearing olive trees. With a simple blackboard listing the meals available I couldn’t go past the Goulash, primarily because I’d never before had the opportunity to order Goulash and was therefore curious but also because it is so onomatopoeic I just couldn’t resist – go on, try saying it out loud and then tell me you don’t want to order it! Goulash is really just beef stew but sounds far more exotic and this particular Goulash was served with glorious gnocchi. The gnocchi were the most plump, squishy morsels I’d ever had and combined with the hearty Goulash this was a meal to remember. Light breezes, salty sea air, a quick dip in the ocean in between bites and the shade of an olive tree. Bliss. Cooking it at home bring back the memories and is perfect for the cooling autumn evenings, take me back to Hvar!