Submitted by Deb Flomberg, Marketing Director for The Jewish Experience

I was raised in a Hungarian/Jewish household, which means we had lots of Goulash and Paprikash at pretty much every Jewish holiday. However, one of the most comforting foods from my childhood is a simple stew made of hot dogs, potatoes and onions in a paprika-based broth. My mom called it Frankfurter Goulash, and it was a staple in my house growing up – 100% pure comfort food.

I always thought it was something my mother made up. I figured one day, she opened the cupboard and saw that all we had were some potatoes and a package of Hebrew Nationals, and threw this together. But I didn’t care, it was always one of my favorites and a hot bowl of this still takes me back to being 10 years old, sitting in my parent’s kitchen.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and I was working with another person of Hungarian/Jewish descent. One day, during a break, we began speaking about our similar backgrounds and he mentioned this dish. I was shocked. “There’s no way!” I said. “My mom made that dish up!” The next day he brought in his own homemade bowl of Frankfurter Goulash. I took a taste and it was exactly the same as my mother made. So he proved me wrong – my mother did not make this up. In fact, a quick Google Search shows many variations of traditional Hungarian Frankfurter Goulash. This version is very easy to make and is a perfect weeknight dish when you’re looking for something quick.

Ingredients
Serves 3 to 6 people, depending on how much leftovers you’d like to have. It’s a tasty lunch reheated, so we always made a big batch.

• 1 to 2 packages of all beef hot dogs (My mother would only use Hebrew National)
• 2 to 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (or make it easy and go with 1 to 2 cans of diced potatoes)
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 to 4 tablespoons of Paprika (See note in instructions)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of Onion Powder
• Water
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil
2. Add onions and sauté until lightly golden
3. Add a bit of water to deglaze the pan and stir well, scraping any flavor from the bottom
4. Add in the hotdogs and potatoes, add enough water to cover
5. Add in seasonings (Note for Paprika: This is very much an estimate. As is with so many family recipes, this is “by eye” and I add enough Paprika that the water turns red.)
6. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes
7. Serve hot with some crusty bread to dip in the broth