Mama's Polish Goulash

My mom is a pretty recent immigrant from Poland and I grew up with a lot of semi-traditional Polish foods (all are amazing and will be blogged about).  It was a cold day in Santa Barbara, and I could think of nothing better than Polish Goulash to comfort me.

Oh, and still in Berkeley, leaving once Max gets off work though.



Goulash (serves a little more than 2)

1/2 lb of cubed round, or some kind of semi tender beef cut
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbl paprika
2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 oregano
3 Tbl olive oil
2 cups sweet peppers sliced
1/2 jalapeño diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 onion julienned
1 tomato sliced
1/2 eggplant, cubed
1 15oz can beef broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the flour, paprika, black pepper, and oregano in a small bowl.  Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Dredge beef cubes in the dry mixture then sauté in the olive oil, cook until outsides are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Once the meat is finished remove from pan, but keep the juices and fat in the pan, add all the vegetables except the garlic, and sauté over medium heat for about ten minutes, if needed add more olive oil. Next add the garlic and beef to the pan, cook for about a minute then add beef broth.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes, then enjoy!  Best serve with some egg noodles.

Beef Sambusa (An African Egg Roll)

I was introduced to Sambusa in sixth grade.  A friend and I made it for a sixth grade project and since then is has become a staple of our friendship. It is a wonderful comfort food that will leave your mouth watering! It's origins are African, perhaps the Islamic community.

Sambusa


1lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 Jalapeño, minced, seeds removed
Salt
Pepper
1 Tb tomato paste
1 cup oil, for frying,
1 tsp water
1 tsp flour
1 package of spring roll wrappers


Add beef and cumin into a skillet and sauté over medium heat until brown.  Once cooked remove the beef from the pan, retaining as much of the beef fat as possible in the pan. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and jalapeño and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.  Then season with salt and pepper.   Take off the heat and in a medium sized bowl combine meat, vegetables and tomato paste. 


Mix the water and flour in a small bowl.  Heat oil in a medium sized sauce pan.  Place 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture in the center of the spring roll wrapper, then wrap the roll according to how it is shown on the package, or more more instruction...  http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-roll-Egg-Rolls/step3/Fold-Over-Corner-4/.   Use the flour mixture to seal the roll.  


Fry the roll in the oil, turning over every 20 seconds until the entire roll is a golden brown.  Remove from oil and place on a plate containing paper towels.  Allow some of the oil to come off and the rolls to cool, then enjoy!