top loin – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

8-30: Hungarian Goulash

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses April 19, 2021April 19, 2021beef, black pepper, boneless, butter, chili sauce, chopped, chuck roast, cubed, cumin, Dutch oven, Eastern European, easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, green bell peppers, Hungarian, marjoram, minced, paprika, peeled, pork, pork shoulder, purée, red bell peppers, sautéed, simmered, sirloin, stews, tomato paste, tomatoes, top loin, untested, winter, yellow onions

We’ve just passed the 7-year anniversary of starting this project (April 16)…and I’m still nowhere near done. This is going to take me the rest of my life at this rate, I think.

A dish that WON’T take you the rest of your life to complete (notice my flawless segue there) is 8-30: Hungarian Goulash. It’s supposedly a dish for cold days, which are quickly becoming few and far between here in California now that it’s almost May. However, if you’ve still got a touch of cold where you are (or maybe your hemisphere is heading towards winter instead of summer), this might be a good option.

Hungarian goulash is very well-known outside of Simply Delicious…in fact, it’s Hungary’s national dish. 🇭🇺 Many countries have versions of it due to various Hungarian diasporas over the last few centuries. You may know the modern American version better as American chop suey, slumgullion, or maybe Hamburger Helper?

8-20: Juicy Steak with Garlic Topping

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses March 29, 2016July 2, 2020beef, black pepper, boneless, Boursin, Brie, broiled, brushed, butter, canola oil, cheese, chives, cream cheese, creamy, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, garlic, gluten-free, grilled, herbs and spices, minced, pan-fried, parsley, restaurant-style, salt, sirloin, steak, top loin, untested

In 8-17: Pan-Fried Steak with Onions, I talked about using a different method to cook steaks than what’s usually written in these recipes–namely, the restaurant method where you sear the meat on the stove and finish cooking in the oven. If you want some practice with that method, 8-20: Juicy Steak with Garlic Topping is a decent (and garlicky) recipe for it.

Honestly, it sounds like even Simply Delicious couldn’t think of anything especially creative or memorable to say about this dish. It’s not much more than steak with some garlicky cheese on top, but if that interests you, read on.

8-17: Pan-Fried Steak with Onions

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses March 16, 2016July 2, 2020beef, black pepper, brown sugar, butter, canola oil, caramelized, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, gluten-free, maple syrup, melted, pan-fried, restaurant-style, salt, sautéed, sirloin, soy sauce, steak, tamari, top loin, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables, yellow onions

Here’s a decent way to do a nice restaurant-style steak at home. 8-17: Pan-Fried Steak with Onions–with a few of my tweaks–is (hopefully) bound to impress whomever you’re cooking for.

I’m a hippie when it comes to some things, but I just love a good steak. My dad is a steak man, and his parents before him. I’ve made quite a few in my day, in a lot of different ways. This is probably the easiest, quickest, and most consistent method. Plus, it won’t set off your smoke detector or require you to go outside.