Kate’s Kitchen with Kids: Goulash with Cranberries and Wild Mushrooms

This recipe has a long cooking time, but don’t let that scare you. If you are in a hurry, you can cook this in half the time – but the beef won’t be as tender. That’s it. This recipe makes great leftovers – so make extras to take for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter or vegetable oil

3 pounds boneless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut in 1-inch cubes

4 large shallots or scallions, coarsely chopped

2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped

2 packages (8 ounces each) sliced cremini or white mushrooms

¼ pound double-smoked slab bacon, finely diced, blanched 10 minutes in boiling water, and drained well (see Note above)

2 small sprigs fresh thyme (preferably lemon thyme) or ½ teaspoon crumbled dried leaf thyme

1 small sprig fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon crumbled dried leaf rosemary

2 cups dry red wine such as Pinot Noir or Cabernet

1¾ cups beef broth

1 cup whole cranberry sauce

2 packages (¼ ounce each) dried porcini or chanterelles

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1 cup heavy cream

How to Prepare:

1. Melt butter in a large heavy nonreactive Dutch oven over moderately high heat and as soon as it froths and subsides, brown beef in several batches in melted butter, allowing about 10 minutes per batch and lifting each to a bowl as it browns.

2. Add shallots, onions, sliced mushrooms, bacon, thyme, and rosemary to pot and sauté, stirring often, until lightly browned—10 to 12 minutes.

3. Return beef to pot along with accumulated juices, add wine, broth, cranberry sauce, dried mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Adjust heat so liquid bubbles gently, cover, and simmer until beef is fork-tender and flavors mellow—2 to 2½ hours.

4. Mix in cream and simmer uncovered until liquids reduce to a nice gravy consistency— about 30 minutes. Discard thyme and rosemary sprigs, taste for salt and pepper, and adjust as needed. Serve over egg noodles