Not-so-authentic Hungarian Goulash (Mandy) 2 lbs beef cut in 1" cubes hot bacon grease for frying 1/3 cup flour 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1 chopped onion 2 tbsp paprika canned tomatoes (I used three whole, small tomatoes) chopped bay leaves cayenne pepper white pepper 4-6 small or medium potatoes (peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces) Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge beef cubes in flour. Brown beef with onions in hot bacon grease (medium heat). Add tomatoes, paprika, cayenne, and white pepper. Allow beef to simmer on low heat for 45 minutes. Add potatoes, bay leaves and water (1 cup to 1 quart depending on how thick you prefer yours). Simmer until potatoes are tender (30-40 minutes). Prepare dumplings. Dumplings (it never hurts to double the recipe- no such thing as too much dumpling): 1 cup flour 1/2 cup milk 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbsp oil paprika Combine dry ingredients. Add milk and oil. Drop into goulash. Sprinkle with paprika. Steam on med-low heat for 15 minutes or until done. Variations: I combined different recipes I found on- line to come up with the one above. We really liked it. I doubled the dumpling recipe and only added a small amount of water to the stew. I was generous with the cayenne. It turned out to be a very thick and hearty stew completely covered with a thick dumpling crust. I found that goulash varies a lot depending on tastes. Some recipes don't call for flouring the meat resulting in au jous or soup instead of the thick gravy ours had. One recipe from a Hungarian family did not include tomatoes (others included tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, and celery) or any spices other than salt, pepper, paprika, and the bay leaves (others called for cloves, allspice, and various other spices). This recipe also called for a quart of water and 2 onions (I only used one onion). They used an egg dumpling recipe which I have not tried, but I will include here. 1 egg 6 tbsp flour 1/8 tsp salt Add flour to unbeaten egg and salt. Mix will. Let stand for 30 minutes for flour to mellow. Drop by teaspoonful into Goulash. Cover and simmer five minutes after dumplings rise to surface. Serve hot with dollops of sour cream.