Hello again from my Austrian kitchen!
Today, we are beginning a journey into cooking with a very new friend– an Austrian cookbook (in English!
For my first adventure, I decided to try recreating a simple recipe for Goulash.
Goulash, for those of you unfamiliar with Austrian cuisine, is basically a stew that is made red by adding plenty of paprika! My goulash tonight incorporated potatoes (Kartoffeln), Burenwurst, and plenty of delicious spices.
A few of the interesting new ingredients I got to experiment with today:
Bauchspeck. Aka, really delicious Austrian bacon. Newsflash: frying bacon has the same delicious smell on every continent!
Apfelessig: Apple vinegar. This also smelled amazing when I added a splash to the hot pan.
So, my goulash lacked the distinctive red coloring of the normal dish, but still. This was a great addition to my dinnertime repertoire here in Salzburg!
As per usual with Austrian dishes, it consisted entirely of meat (sausage) and starch (potatoes). I PROMISE I added three huge carrots and half a bell pepper… they’re in there… somewhere…?
The search for proper vegetable nutrition continues.
This wonderful Austrian meal wouldn’t be complete without a piece of Frau B’s homemade Apfelstrudel!
I order Apfelstrudel for dessert nearly everywhere I go, but I would have to say that hers is still my favorite. :)
My delightful Hausfrau makes this typical Austrian dessert nearly every week, using a time-honored recipe and apples from a neighbor’s tree.
I am so unbelievably lucky.
“But I, when I undress me
Each night upon my knees
Will ask the Lord to bless me,
With [APFEL STRUDEL] and cheese.”
~ Eugene Field.