Casserole?

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Every year when we go to Aruba, I am required to make a big batch of American Chop Suey. It's one of the simplest recipes but everyone looks forward to it so much I can't say no. Twenty years ago, my daughter begged me to come up with an ACS recipe that tasted like the ACS she used to get in the school cafeteria! I did and she loves it.

I'm not sure what makes this dish so popular. Maybe it's the school cafeteria connection.

My kids called any dish like that pot glop. It was something that just went glop into the pot. And they loved it also. I think they got the name from the kids at school. I still will make a small pot just for me with leftovers. :angel:
 
Wow, you're quick! I've had that recipe a while and haven't gotten to it yet. Any suggestions?

I cut the recipe in half and made it as directed. I like the technique of coating the raw meat with spices prior to searing it. The only real change I made was finishing it in the oven, I hate babysitting a pan on the stove.

I have read several recipes from various cookbooks and I think now that I could make it with whatever I happen to have on hand, those are the dishes I enjoy the most. More of a process or technique than a recipe.

I have never had Hungarian goulash so I have no idea if this was good goulash or not.

It fills the bill for me easy, cheap and tasty! :ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
My kids called any dish like that pot glop...

I make a different dish I call glop that I learned in Boy Scouts. Ground beef and onion sautéed, small cans of potato, mushrooms and corn and a can of cream of mush soup. Mix and heat through.
 
I make a different dish I call glop that I learned in Boy Scouts. Ground beef and onion sautéed, small cans of potato, mushrooms and corn and a can of cream of mush soup. Mix and heat through.
Sounds a lot like "camp stew" form when I was in the Girl Sprouts. No soup, but green beans. It included the water from the cans. I don't think there were 'shrooms. And when we were lucky, Fritos on top.
 
Ground beef, onions, green & red peppers, garlic and a can of diced tomatoes, simmered. Stir into cooked macaroni with shredded cheddar, bake till heated through. That is Johnny Marzetti! YUM! I got the recipe from the Queen of Lunch Ladies.
 
During the summer when the kids were home for lunch, I would make instant ACS. Sauté hamburger and finely diced onions. Open two cans of Franco American Spaghetti and mix together. Plenty of Bread and butter and the jug of milk on the table and they were happy. :angel:
 
My DIL recently gave me a recipe for goulash that she received from an "old hungarian woman." I was very surprised that it did not contain any paprika. I thought that was what made it goulash instead of beef stew. Without using the actual recipe, here are the ingredients.

Beef cubes, water, carrots, potatoes, onions, ketchup, Kitchen Bouquet, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 envelopes of Washington Seasoning and Broth. The last ingredient I never heard of but when I googled it, it is not something that would contain paprika....just similar to bullion. The ketchup would add red color, but not the smokey taste of paprika. Isn't that unusual, since the recipe came from an authentic hungarian?
 
My DIL recently gave me a recipe for goulash that she received from an "old hungarian woman." I was very surprised that it did not contain any paprika. I thought that was what made it goulash instead of beef stew. Without using the actual recipe, here are the ingredients.

Beef cubes, water, carrots, potatoes, onions, ketchup, Kitchen Bouquet, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 envelopes of Washington Seasoning and Broth. The last ingredient I never heard of but when I googled it, it is not something that would contain paprika....just similar to bullion. The ketchup would add red color, but not the smokey taste of paprika. Isn't that unusual, since the recipe came from an authentic hungarian?

I agree. It's nothing like goulash. I see the following as being missing. Sweet and hot paprikas, caraway, thyme and marjoram. Also, the recipe I use does not include Worcestershire, carrots, potatoes or catchup.
 
Even authentic members of ethnic groups sometimes embrace shortcuts and modern conveniences.

DH gave me "The Best International Recipes" cookbook from Cooks Illustrated for Christmas once. I think they have excellent, accurate recipes and provide alternatives to ingredients that may be hard to find here but approximate the flavor as well as possible. Not that paprika is hard to find; I'm just saying I trust them for accurate information.
 
I agree. It's nothing like goulash. I see the following as being missing. Sweet and hot paprikas, caraway, thyme and marjoram. Also, the recipe I use does not include Worcestershire, carrots, potatoes or catchup.


My mother's goulash had potatoes in it, but she probably did that to stretch the meal. She could have served it over noodles for that.
 
hungarian goulash seems to be another dish that has been messed about with,as has stroganoff,imho.one is a quick cook dish,the other is long & slow.what they have in common is that they both have a few,simple,ingredients.goulash is a peasant dish with it's roots in hungary/the balkans.stewing beef or,as in serbia & croatia wild boar,onions,garlic,oil,sweet & hot paprika,tomatoes,water or stock,caraway,sour cream,salt & pepper.in other words ingredients that were readily available and/or relatively cheap.traditionally served over wide,flat noodles or potatoes or dumplings
 
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hungarian goulash seems to be another dish that has been messed about with,as has stroganoff,imho.one is a quick cook dish,the other is long & slow.what they have in common is that they both have a few,simple,ingredients.goulash is a peasant dish with it's roots in hungary/the balkans.stewing beef or,as in serbia & croatia wild boar,onions,garlic,oil,sweet & hot paprika,tomatoes,water or stock,caraway,sour cream,salt & pepper.in other words ingredients that were readily available and/or relatively cheap.traditionally served over wide,flat noodles or potatoes or dumplings


That is how my mother made it. I think she made it with a small amount of meat and a large amount of potatoes or noodles as she had little money to feed her family. She was a good cook considering what she had to work with. I was not allowed in her kitchen except to eat. I think she was afraid if I learned to cook I wouldn't need her anymore. So I didn't learn any cooking skills from her.
 
That is how my mother made it. I think she made it with a small amount of meat and a large amount of potatoes or noodles as she had little money to feed her family. She was a good cook considering what she had to work with. I was not allowed in her kitchen except to eat. I think she was afraid if I learned to cook I wouldn't need her anymore. So I didn't learn any cooking skills from her.

My exDIL was born in Naples, Italy. Her family came here when she was seven. Her mother is a great cook. But she refused to let any of her five daughters in the kitchen. As a result, my son ate more at the MIL's house than at home. As did the DIL and their two sons. None of her daughters knew how to cook when they got married. :angel:
 
That is how my mother made it. I think she made it with a small amount of meat and a large amount of potatoes or noodles as she had little money to feed her family. She was a good cook considering what she had to work with. I was not allowed in her kitchen except to eat. I think she was afraid if I learned to cook I wouldn't need her anymore. So I didn't learn any cooking skills from her.
i'm sure that is how she cooked it carol.cooked true to it's roots...a peasant dish,light on meat & heavy on potatoes or noodles.my family tree has many branches.my lineage goes from russia,through poland,down to the balkans & up through austria & france,with a touch of israel thrown in:wacko:!!.not a drop of british blood in my body but lots of relatives from lots of countries who shared one passion...food!that's exactly how we cooked it too!!what on earth worcestershire sauce is doing in a recipe for a dish that had been cooked for centuries before said condiment was invented simply beggars belief:rolleyes:!!
 
I think she was afraid if I learned to cook I wouldn't need her anymore. So I didn't learn any cooking skills from her.

None of her daughters knew how to cook when they got married. :angel:
i think this is more of a hierachy thing ladies.who IS queen of the pride or queen of the hive??.daughters learning to cook represented a threat to the throne!!
different with sons i think.mum was an amazing cook.she could outcook bolas & i put together without drawing breath.mum taught us to cook before we could read.wanted us to be independant chaps & fly the nest asap too,no doubt:ermm::ohmy::LOL:!!
 
There is always discussion about what an"authentic" recipe is for a dish. If you take a "representative" recipe for goulash that is generally accepted and change one ingredient, is it still goulash? What if you add an ingredient or two, is it still goulash?

When someone insists their recipe is the only authentic recipe for a dish that was in general use across a region, I tend to pay little attention.

I don't write this to demean various recipes. Rather to point out that there are many viable versions.
 
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There is always discussion about what an"authentic" recipe is for a dish. If you take a "representative" recipe for goulash that is generally accepted and change one ingredient, is it still goulash? What if you add an ingredient or two, is it still goulash?

When someone insists their recipe is the only authentic recipe for a dish that was in general use across a region, I tend to pay little attention.

I don't write this to demean various recipes. Rather to point out that there are many viable versions.
absolutely right andy,the reality is that no one knows what the original ingredients of any dish truly were or how it was cooked.recipes have been adapted to what's available & cooking methods have changed over the millenia.apart,maybe,for that first chunk of meat that was chucked on a fire thousands of years ago.but what meat was it and how long was it on the fire:ermm:???
i think it is true to say that the further you go back,the closer you get to the original.one thing i am certain of is that worcestershire sauce,wonderful though it surely is,has no place in a goulash:rolleyes:!!
 
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i'm sure that is how she cooked it carol.cooked true to it's roots...a peasant dish,light on meat & heavy on potatoes or noodles.my family tree has many branches.my lineage goes from russia,through poland,down to the balkans & up through austria & france,with a touch of israel thrown in:wacko:!!.not a drop of british blood in my body but lots of relatives from lots of countries who shared one passion...food!that's exactly how we cooked it too!!what on earth worcestershire sauce is doing in a recipe for a dish that had been cooked for centuries before said condiment was invented simply beggars belief:rolleyes:!!
Goulash probably predates the use of tomatoes as food in Europe too.
 
There is always discussion about what an"authentic" recipe is for a dish. If you take a "representative" recipe for goulash that is generally accepted and change one ingredient, is it still goulash? What if you add an ingredient or two, is it still goulash?

When someone insists their recipe is the only authentic recipe for a dish that was in general use across a region, I tend to pay little attention.

I don't write this to demean various recipes. Rather to point out that there are many viable versions.

When I hear the words "peasant dish" I expect to see very little meat. Meat was a luxury for the peasants. So their dishes added veggie to stretch it to feel the whole family. And for areas around the Balkans, I expect to find cabbage also. It kept well and one head went a long way. It was a veggie that could be stored throughout the winter months along with the root veggies. Seasonings they had, although they may be expensive. But a little went a long way and made the dishes tasty. Many of their herbs were found in the wild. :angel:
 
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