Mama Longs Goulash Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir beef and onion in hot oil until meat is browned, about 10 minutes. Add water, tomato sauce, paprika, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, beef bouillon, mustard, lemon juice, and bay leaf. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer over low heat until beef is very tender, 2 to 3 hours.
• Stir potatoes into soup and continue to simmer until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes more. For a thicker soup, leave the pot uncovered; for a thinner soup, replace lid.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook egg noodles in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 5 minutes. Drain.
• Serve soup over egg noodles in bowls.

Steps:

• 1. Brown ground meat with onion and garlic. Drain excess grease.
• 2. Put all the ingredients except the meat and macaroni into the slow cooker and then stir the meat in (so it doesn't settle on the bottom). Cook on high for at least three hours (or on low for 6 to 8 hours) to allow the flavors to blend.
• 3. A couple of hours before you want to eat stir in the dry macaroni. You CAN put it in at the beginning, but it will grow and grow, especially if you let it cook all day, so if that's your plan, start with really tiny pasta, like tiny elbow mac or stars. I sometimes just cook the pasta in a pan of water and stir it into the goulash 15 or 20 minutes before I serve it. That way, it's done perfectly--isn't mushy or "crunchy." Pasta can be very tricky in a slow-cooker.
• 4. At this point, the goulash should be juicy--almost a soup, so if it starts to get too thick, add some hot water or hot tomato juice.
• 5. None of these amounts or ingredients are critical. Use what you have or what your kids like. Use pinto beans if they don't like kidney beans or leave out the garlic. Leave out the cayenne and turmeric if your family doesn't like the little bit of "heat" they add.
• 6. MY MOTHER'S METHOD (great for throwing together when you get home from work) was to cook the macaroni al dente, brown the meat, then put it all in a kettle on the stove and let it simmer for a couple of hours until dinnertime. The taste isn't quite as mellow, but it's still awfully good, and doesn't require as much advance planning! :D