Recipe(tried): Great Goulash with Potato Dumplings (crock pot)

This should say recipe tried, tried, tried again and again! This is a family favourite. Sometimes I don't get to the dumplings...buttered noodles or rice are wonderful with it, too.

I will be serving this with slow-cooked red cabbage, sour cream, and sliced cucumbers with vinegar, salt and pepper.

GREAT GOULASH WITH POTATO DUMPLINGS (MY VERSION)
Adapted from: 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 lbs stewing beef, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 onions finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp caraway seeds
salt and black pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup gin
1 can condensed beef broth
zest of 1 lemon
FOR THE POTATO DUMPLINGS:
4 medium potatoes
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp all purpose flour, plus a bit more for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley or chives

Brown beef in batches over medium-high heat. Transfer to slow cooker.

Reduce heat in skillet to medium. Add onions to pan and cook unitl softened. Add garlic, paprika, caraway seeds, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add tomato paste and stir well. Add gin, if using, and cook, stirring, until almost all the liquid evaporates (this will only take a few seconds).

Pour in beef broth and cook, stirring, until thickened. Stir in lemon zest. Pour mixture over beef in slow cooker. Stir to combine.

Cover slow cooker and cook and low for 8 to 10 hours.

TO MAKE POTATO DUMPLINGS:
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook potatoes in skins. Drain and allow to cool until they can be handled easily. Lift skins off and squeeze potatoes through a ricer, or mash with a potato masher until smooth. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, egg, milk, flour, salt and parsley or chives. Add potatoes and mix well. Form mixture in balls approximately 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle additional flour over a cutting board or plate. Roll dumplings in flour until they are lightly coated.

Add dumplings to goulash, spooning some sauce over them to ensure they are well-coated with liquid.

Cover and cook on high for 20 minutes, until mixture is bubbling.

Cheers....guess I better go get to it (might even do the dumplings, to celebrate the chives having come up in my garden!)

Carolyn!

note: I usually don't have gin, so I use tequila. altho I am sure the gin would be better.