Slow Cooker Veal Goulash

This recipe is adapted from The Healthy Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson.

My slow cooker hasn't had a workout in awhile and I'm steadily getting more busy with work and knitting and being more active. So I give you: Veal Goulash. Of course I used a recipe for a guide, but I couldn't help but make some delicious adjustments.

For this dish, you'll need something called "stewing veal". Now, if you are a n00b like me and have only ordered veal in a restaurant, you have no idea what this is. Never fear! Just look in your local grocer's meat section and you'll find it packaged all nice and neat. I'm sure I got ripped off a little since they cubed it and packaged it, but hey, I didn't know how to buy veal. And it worked fine. And veal is cheaper than I thought it would be. So there's that.

Tonight I am serving this over mashed potatoes. I'll likely put some of the leftovers over noodles, or just eat as is, with a side salad. Anything is possible, really. I'll recount the original recipe and note my changes.

Here's what you'll need.
2 tbsp olive oil (I used Misto, so I likely used less)
2 lbs veal (1.5 lbs was fine)
2 onions, finely chopped (or 4, if you like onion)
4 cloves garlic, minced (or 8 if you want to scare vampires)
1 tsp caraway seeds (up to 2tsp is what they recommend, I used this)
1/2 tsp crack black peppercorns (take ones from your grinder, and squish them with a knife!)
1 lb mushrooms (or a little under. I mixed cremini with white)
2 tbsp flour
1 can, 14 oz diced tomatoes (double that!), with juice
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp sweet hungarian paprika (my grocery store had nothing of the sort, so I used regular)
2 red bell peppers, diced (I froze some in the summer in strips and was too lazy to dice them)
1/2 cup finely chopped dill
sour cream, optional

So, you can see, I made a LOT of changes. I like extra tomatoes, and I didn't have the right kind of shrooms, and you know what? I like garlic.

How you do it:

1- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet. Add veal in batches and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. (I skipped this part, because I am lazy.) Put the browned veal into your slow cooker.

2- Add more oil to the skillet and add onion, cooking until soft, about 5 minutes.

3- Add the garlic, caraway seeds and peppercorns and cook for one minute.

4- Add mushrooms and mix them in.

5- Add the flour and cook, stirring, for a minute.

6- Add tomatoes (with juice) and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.

7- Throw all of this into the slow cooker with the veal and cook on low 8 hours, or high for 4.

8- Take the paprika and dissolve it in 2 tbsp chicken stock. Add to slow cooker.

9- Add peppers to the slow cooker and cook on high for 30 mins.

A note on slow cookers: I've owned a few different ones in my time, and I will swear by the kind with the removable crock. Not only this, but if you can, spring for the Crock Pot that has the Saute feature. Then, instead of using a skillet, you can saute right in the crock and transfer it to the base. It's amazing.

Also, the recipe in the book has nutrition info:

207 cals
26 g protein
11 g carb
7 g fat
2.5 g fiber
262 mg sodium
95 mg cholesterol

This obviously is different for my version since I added more tomatoes and stuff, but if you are in need of a guide, there ya go.

Enjoy!