Goulash Soup

Name: Goulash Soup
Yield: makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 4 medium onions, chopped (about 4 cups); 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 3 to 4 cups chopped leftover cheater meat like pork shoulder, beef brisket, chuck, or chicken; Two 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken or beef broth; 1/4 cup Hungarian paprika (mostly sweet, with some hot if you like); 2 bay leaves; 4 medium potatoes such as russet or Yukon gold, peeled and diced; 5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced; Kosher salt to taste

January 24, 2012

Goulash may not sound flashy or stylish, but it offers lots of room for creative leftover cheating out of the vegetable crisper drawer or the freezer. Cheater beef chuck is the delicious traditional choice for goulash, but Ultimate Cheater Pulled Chicken (page 85) or Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork (page 54) make a respectable soup. The secret to goulash is the combination of sweet slow-cooked caramelized onions with traditional pungent Hungarian paprika or a little Spanish smoked paprika. Keep most of the paprika on the sweet side, or the soup will go from zero to sixty too fast for tender palates. Serve with a loaf of good crusty bread.

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