The Nights Who Say Soup: When they send me to the gulag, I hope they serve goulash.

Hungarian Goulash
Cook's Illustrated, #95

1 Boneless beef chuck-eye roast (about 3 1/2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Salt
1/3 cu sweet paprika
1 (12-oz) jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed (about 1 cup)
2 tbs tomato paste
3 tsp white vinegar
2 tbs vegetable oil
4 large onions, diced small (about 6 cups)
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch-thick rounds (about 2 cups)
1 bay leaf
1 cu beef broth, warmed
1/4 cu sour cream (optional)
Ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle meat evenly with 1 tsp salt and let stand 15 minutes. Process paprika, roasted peppers, tomato paste, and 2 tsp vinegar in food processor until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides as needed.

Combine oil, onions, and 1 tsp salt in large dutch oven; cover and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften but have not yet begun to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. (If onions begin to brown, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in 1 tbs water.)

Stir in paprika mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions stick to bottom of pan, about 2 minutes. Ad beef, carrots, and bay leaf, stir until beef is weel coated. Using rubber spatula, scrape down sides of pot. Cover pot and transfer to oven. Cook until meat is almost tender and surface of liquid is 1/2 inch below top of meat, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Remove pot from oven and add enough beef broth so that surface of liquid is 1/4 inch from top of meat (beef should not be fully submerged). Return covered pot to oven and continue to cook until fork slips easily in and out of beef, about 30 minutes longer.

Skim fat off surface, stir in remaining teaspoon vinegar and sour cream, if using. Remove bay leaf, adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, and serve.

Just for the record, Cook's Illustrated rocks, even if their articles tend to read a bit like they were written by a deranged mad-libs editor. See this article and tell me it doesn't sound like every Cook's Illustrated article ever written. That said, they know their stuff.

Ours didn't seem to need any extra liquid when it was done, so I omitted the beef broth. I also used fresh roasted bell peppers instead of the stuff from a jar. I served it over toasted leftover bread, and steamed red potatoes. I had to promise Isaac that there were no mushrooms in it before he would eat it, but Joni and I both that it was good.