American Goulash is like Meow – it could be anything!
Named after Hungarian Goulash, called gulyás or gulyásleves, American Goulash is not like Hungarian Goulash at all. Since my wife has been away, I've been preparing American Goulash at least 3 times per month (9 days worth, if you consider leftovers). That doesn't sound like too much, does it?
My Historical Relationship With American Goulash
Betty Crocker, a completely fictitious persona invented by someone in the early part of the 20th century and now owned by General Mills, put out a cookbook with some form of a hamburger goulash recipe in it. I don't remember what it was and I don't have one of those cookbooks. Either my mother or one of my sisters probably had one back in the 1960s. With 4 sisters, there was a lot of estrogen in my house.
My memory doesn't serve me well, but the American Goulash that was made at my house wasn't made too well. It contained hamburger along with the grease, sliced onions and tomato sauce, but that's all I can remember. It was often served alone because I had 8 siblings and food had to stretch as far as it could. Rice wasn't a staple in our household until we moved to Hawaii in 1974. Even then, it wasn't served with goulash most of the time.
I was briefly reminded of American Goulash more than 10 years ago when my wife threw some leftovers together that resembled it. I didn't think about it at the time because we weren't in short supply of food. There were only 4 mouths to feed.
My Recent Relationship With American Goulash
After my wife left last year, to work in the US for various reasons, I started stocking up on canned goods as well as pre-prepared meals. Hamburger Helper, another product of General Mills, was kept in my cabinets until it was no longer carried at Royal Subic (at the Freeport Zone here in the Philippines).
A few months ago, I scoured my cabinets for food as the supply ran out toward the end of the month. I found tomato paste, elbow macaroni, onions, garlic and of course, salt and pepper. I also had just under a kilo of hamburger in the freezer (about 2 lbs., give or take an ounce). Remembering American Goulash, I set about making it for the first time here.
I cooked the hamburger, after it thawed, in a large Teflon-coated pan. I then drained the oil and added 2 cups of elbow macaroni, a can of tomato paste (I don't know how much is in a can and I refuse to walk downstairs to look), 5 cups of bottled water (the tap water here is horrid, good only for bathing and washing dishes), salt, pepper, sliced onions and crushed garlic. I don't remember the exact measurements of everything and that's probably a good thing. It tastes a little different each time I make it. I cooked it until it came to a boil, and then covered it and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. I really needed a bigger pan because stirring was difficult to do without making a mess when the liquid was near the top. Once everything was thick and little fluid remained in the pan, I turned off the heat, moved the pan to an unused burner to cool, keeping it covered.
My son and I were able to eat the first batch for 3 days before running out, and we ate a lot each time.
Experimentation Is The Mother Of Invention
Or so they say (I don't have a clue as to who it was). Since my first try at making American Goulash here, I've experimented with using spaghetti sauce of different varieties instead of tomato paste. It tastes too much like spaghetti to be called goulash.
I've also used different types of pasta. I've tried both small and large elbow macaroni as well as egg noodles and other types of noodles that I can't remember. I think I'll stick with the small elbow macaroni. I haven't tried making chicken goulash yet. I wonder if using chicken instead of beef for goulash would work as well as using chicken for enchiladas instead of beef. My wife's chicken enchiladas are better than any beef enchilada I ever ate.
I don't think I'm going to be experimenting again any time soon. My son says my goulash is perfect the way it is and that's good enough for me.
(Image source: My Mom's Goulash at La Mia Cusina.)
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Your description of American Goulash sounds a lot like a dish my dad used to make. He would cook hamburger meat, drain the grease and then mix it with watered down homegrown and home-canned tomato juice ('cause Mom doesn't like it full strength), onions, and salt & pepper. It wasn't one of my favorite dishes, but I don't like black pepper and I like my tomato juice full strength. LOL. My granny used to make a dish she called goulash which had egg noodles, mushrooms, and onions, but I don't remember what all else. Mom doesn't remember it at all, so I figure it was something Uncle Lynn picked up when he was stationed in Germany. I absolutely LOVED it. Then again, Mom always said Granny could serve a turd and I would like it because it came from Granny's house.
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Chicken and dumplings from my grandmother (who died in 1986) have never been replaced by anything as good. I miss that food dammit.
That's pretty darn close to my version of American Goulash. I cook diced onions and my hamburger together then pour them into a pot. Meanwhile I boil the macaroni in a pot (I've also been known to use different noodles depending on what I have on hand) and then I add a can or two of tomato sauce (depending on the amount of noodles I cooked and how poor we are that week). Mix it all up and voila, a tasty frugal meal.
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So, I guess that the dish we always call "macaroni, tomato, and hamburger stuff" has a name! How about that. I like using canned diced tomatoes and LOTS of garlic and onions. We often top ours with shredded cheddar cheese.
We ate this a lot when we were kids. It was called goulash, too.
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Hehe, my father used to call it slop.
Only one thing missing for me in the recipe- cheese! You could add some American or velveeta in the recipe or sprinkle parmesan on afterwards.
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This is very similar to a dish I make for my children at least once a week. Like Louise mentioned, I sometimes add cheese. I tend to ad lib a fair amount depending on what I have lying around
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