Goulash in summer... why not?

I was hungry. I felt like goulash. Ignore the fact that it has been >30C every day for the past 2 months (with a few exceptions). Goulash can be summery!

Beautiful.
My housemate's girlfriend enjoyed this so much she swallowed a piece of beef whole. This piece of beef got stuck in her throat and was removed 36hrs later under general anaesthetic via endoscopy. Is this a compliment or an insult? I choose to think it was so delicious she couldn't wait to chew to swallow it - optimistic!
Anyway, I thought is was beautiful.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

4 onions, thinly sliced

700g beef shin or blade, cut into 3cm pieces

Seasoned plain flour for dusting

400g can Italian tomatoes

1 clove garlic, finely sliced

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp hungarian paprika (not smoked Spanish paprika)

4 cloves

2 fresh bay leaves

1 stubbie stout bear

Heat half the olive oil in a large casserole dish over medium heat, add onion. Cook until very soft and golden brown (20-25 mins). Do not get any black bits on the onions, but be patient and wait until they are dark brown and sweet and caramelised.

Buy a whole piece of beef and cut into 3cm chunks. Dust the beef in seasoned flour. In a separate frying pan heat the remaining oil until hot. Add the meat to the frying pan and cook until nicely browned all over. Add meat to casserole pot.

Add tomatoes, garlic, paprika, caraway seeds, cayenne pepper, cloves and bay leaves to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and stir over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until tender, breaking up the tomatoes. Add the beer. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until meat is very tender - 1-1 1/2 hours.

Season to taste.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and scattered with chives and dill over mashed potato.

Do not omit the sour cream, chives and dill - these really take the dish from special to amazing.

Enjoy!