Goulash O'neil

This is a recipe I grew up eating and I have to tell you that when I was younger I loved this dish. It was one of my favorites. It is a tomato based sauce with a bit of dry mustard and brown sugar that is cooked all day on low heat. The meat is so tender it tends to fall apart. Yum!

Occasionally I like to make things for BCakes that I grew up eating and when I found this recipe in my box I knew I had to make it. This particular recipe is traced back (according to the phone call to my Mom) in my family from my Mom's Mom's Mother, i.e. my Great Nanny O'neil. Apparently my Nanny grew up eating it, my Mom grew up eating it and I in turn grew up not only eating it but loving it as well.

My Mom has always been such a wonder to me because she wasn't a Texan until late in her teen years when her family moved here from Albany, New York. To me there's something mysterious about that. I live in the city my father was raised in, it's home to me. When my mom talks about moving here she will tell this story about how when her siblings and she crossed the Texas state line they kept expecting to see cowboys on horse back and tumbleweeds. I guess in a way that's how it would be for me going to New York. I would expect to see buildings and busy streets, you know bright lights big city and all that. It wasn't until adulthood that I realized Albany is actually "the country" in New York. Just the fact that she grew up in New York makes her glamorous to me and I wasn't shy about that in school either from what I can remember. Even this recipe seems more sacred to me because it comes from somewhere I've never seen, heard, touched or tasted.

I know I got a little off subject there but that's what this recipe does to me, it makes me think about my Mom and sitting at the dinner table eating and talking about our days. This recipe is home to me and I hope that you'll give it a try.


O'Neil Goulash

3/4 cups ketchup
2 Tablespoons worcestershire
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 Tablespoon brown sugar (I used 2)
1 Tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
dash of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1-2 lbs. stew meat
medium onion, big dice
carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup water (plus 1 or 2 cups on reserve)
cornstarch*

Simply combine all the ingredients in a large pot and cook all day long over low heat. Stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed.

Serve over rice, your choice, or egg noodles.

*My mom used cornstarch when I was growing up to thicken the sauce at the very end of cooking but I didn't need to. Mine was thick enough without adding anything else.


I hope that you try this version of Goulash. It really is very good.