Redneck Goulash

"Redneck Goulash" is actually the name which my Hungarian friend Barb gave my signature Hungarian-style goulash with Venison meat. :-) Somehow my children picked up on that, and thus we call any sort of Hungarian goulash with venison "Redneck Goulash".

I took two or three Venison strip steaks, and cut them into small cubes of about an inch each. Using kitchen shears works better for this.

I also finely chopped 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, and 3 cloves of garlic.

Heat 1 T of oil in a stock pot or Dutch oven. Throw in 2T of caraway seeds, as well as a pinch of cumin seeds and coriander seeds (if you only have ground cumin and coriander, add it later with the stock). Add the vegetables (except the garlic) and lightly brown. Stir in the garlic and add the meat until browned. Be careful the garlic does not burn.

Add 2-4 quarts of water or stock. If you are adding water, add 1-2 T of onion soup mix for flavor. Add 1 can of tomato paste, 2-3T of paprika, and salt to taste.

You can also add 3-5 diced potatoes to the stew as well.

Simmer with the lid on until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Optional dumplings:
As one trying to lose some weight here, I was going to forgo the dumplings but this revelation was met with protest from husband and children. Because of this I didn't have time to make some potato dumplings (knoedel), but instead made some simple baking mix dumplings:

2 cups of baking mix with 2/3 cup of milk. Don't over work the dough or it will be stiff. You want to just wet the mix. Drop by the spoonful into the simmering stew, and put the lid on it for 20 minutes.