Hungarian Pot Roast

Quite a a while ago I had bought a nice piece of Rump Roast and it had been sitting in the freezer ever since.  I just didn't want to do a typical roast beef with it so I was reluctant to tackle it. I found this recipe in an old cookbook that had belonged to my Hungarian Great Grandmother and while the original recipe calls for it to be cooked in an enameled cast iron pot, I used the crock pot instead.  The dish is bursting with flavor and is served with a traditional paprika gravy that has just the right amount of spice.


Hungarian Pot Roast

1 Roast (Rump Works well)
Salt, Pepper and garlic powder
Lard
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4-5 Onions, peeled and sliced thickly
3 T Szeged Sweet Hungarian Paprika (Spanish will work as well)
1 tsp Szeged Hot Paprika
1 Jar Roasted Peppers, drained and sliced into strips
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 C Double Strength Beef stock
1 16oz container sour cream

Season the beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Heat a frying pan and add about 3T Lard to it, don't let the lard smoke.  Add the beef and sear each side well, about 5 mins a side, remove and place in a crock pot.

Add another tablespoon of lard to the frying pan and add onions and paprika.  Fry on medium heat stirring often until onions are lightly browned.

Add onions, tomatoes and peppers to roast in crock pot.  Pour 2C beef stock into frying pan to deglaze, make sure you scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan.  Reduce liquid by half then pour over roast.  Set crock pot to high and cook 3 1/2 - 4 Hours.  Remove roast and let rest for a few minutes.  Strain liquid from vegetables reserving the vegetables.  Reduce broth by half in frying pan and add 3/4 container of sour cream.  You'll want to temper the sour cream first by putting it in a bowl and adding a ladle of broth to it and quickly mixing with a whisk.  Then add to pan and mix for gravy, this prevents curdling of the sour cream.  Slice beef and serve on platter dressed with the reserved vegetables and gravy on the side.  Best with brown rice or can be served with egg noodles if desired.

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