What’s for Dinner?

A newsletter for home chefs about food, cooking, and enjoyment of food

September 10, 2025

WHAT’S FOR DINNER?

The fall is here. The change of seasons is always exciting for me since the temperature outside definitely influences my cooking in a big way, and I am excited to try new “fall weather” recipes!

One such recipe is goulash. Goulash (gulyás) is a Hungarian dish that features beef, vegetables, and a generous amount of sweet Hungarian paprika. Traditionally served as a soup, the dish has been transformed into more of a stew-like interpretation in many foreign versions. I personally prefer it as a stew, but you can always add more broth and serve it as a soup!

The recipe is simple: take a couple of pounds of stewing beef and cube it into 1” cubes, season with salt and pepper, and brown them on high heat with some oil. Set aside. Sauté a chopped onion in oil or butter; add 3-4 carrots and 3-4 bell peppers sliced into .5” slices and sauté some more. Add 2-3 cloves minced garlic, ¼ cup paprika (Hungarian sweet preferred), a bay leaf, and an optional 1 teaspoon caraway or fennel seed. You can add a few potatoes cut into 1” chunks. Add the beef back, a 14-oz can of chopped tomatoes, and a liberal amount of water or broth (broth preferred). The more broth you add, the more soupy the dish will be. I usually add just enough to cover all the meat and veg, but you can certainly add more! Stew the dish on very low heat for 2-3 hours and enjoy with your choice of carbs. Serve with some chopped parsley.

WHAT’S FOR DESSERT?

For dessert, I have been craving a banoffee pie, but one of my kids is not in love with bananas, while the other is crazy about them. I thought - why not accommodate both? So I made a banoffee pie with half banana, half nectarine filling, and it was AMAZING! To my surprise, I loved the nectarine half even more than the banana one. Something about the contrast between the sweetness and creaminess of dulce de leche and the tartness and juiciness of nectarines that just worked. Or maybe it’s because of all the cream on top? But it made me think of all the other possibilities! Try it and see for yourself!

To make the classic banoffee pie, you need a graham cracker pie shell (homemade or store-bought), a half a can of dulce de leche (I love Nestle brand but you can also make it yourself by boiling a can of condensed milk for about 1.5 hours), a couple of bananas, and a liberal amount of whipped cream (traditional recipes call for 1.5 to 2 cups; I tend to use less than a cup to control calories). Spread dulce de leche on the bottom of the pie shell, cover it with banana slices (about ¼ inch slices) and top with whipped cream. That’s it! You can of course be creative with the decor - I added chocolate shavings and some ground pistachio nuts for color. Have fun with it!

PS: I think this recipe is particularly great for cooking with young kids since there is no baking involved and I am yet to meet a kid who does not like dulce de leche!

FoodFirst Updates

Yesterday my second cohort of Cooking with Confidence class completed the course. It was a wonderful experience! The class participants gave me some great ideas and helped me shape up the new fall schedule which I just posted - see here.

The major news is that I am brining a new course - Baking with Confidence - which will cover all things baking (and roasting!), including desserts, breads of all sort (not sourdough since it’s a separate Master Chef class) and baked main dishes. Check out the full description here.

If you are interested in taking a class or course but do not see it on the schedule, please email me your availability or fill out this form.

Elena