In a Three Stooges short, Larry eats a slice of rye bread.
He says, " This rye bread has the best - tasting caraway seeds!"
Moe looks at the bread and says, “Those aren’t caraway seeds, they’re ants!”
I’d also suggest trying dishes that call for Spanish paprika, which is smoked. Nobody would mistake it for bland.
Thankya! I have food plans for the weekend already, but I’ll have to make that sometime this winter. It looks to be a perfect dish for cold weather.
Oh, yeah, smoked Spanish paprika is its own beast. (Not all Spanish paprika is smoked, but the smoked variety is the most well-known here in the US, in my experience.) It’s basically like a mild chipotle flavor. I like to use it when I want to impart a smoky flavor to a dish instead of using Liquid Smoke (which I tend to find a bit bitter and acrid.)
I’ve also had good luck with some varieties of California paprika. The stuff I’ve had from Penzey’s or the Spice House has been really good, and I’ve gotten some at a local chain called Mariano’s (part of Roundy’s Supermarkets from Wisconsin–the paprika was branded as Roundy’s), and it was quite acceptable as well.
Nyuck! Nyuck! Nyuck! 
That’s the version I grew up with.
There’s a recipe for Hungarian Goulash in every Betty Crocker recipe book I’ve ever owned. You basically cube up a round steak or similar, then stew the meat for a few hours with onion, garlic, ketchup (yes, ketchup), dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, paprika and water. We always served it over egg noodles. It tastes a lot like barbecue and for me, it is THE definitive Hungarian Goulash.
Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it – anyone I ever served it to wanted the recipe.
Huh. Here I thought that type of ‘goulash’ was local to Newfoundland. Fancy that.
It appears to be a Midwestern thing. Here is the Wikipedia on it. I only know that I first learned of it from some folks from either Indiana or Ohio.
Yeah… I grew up eating the ground beef, tomatoes, and elbow macaroni version of “Goulash.” It wasn’t until my friend in college invited me to his parent’s house for some goulash that I found out my midwest raised, Swedish/French mother made something very different than my friend’s Hungarian born and raised parents did. Of course any home cooked meal tastes wonderful to a poor college student but this one I remember as amazing.
Almost the same,but mom used tomato soup.
…but this is the first time I have seen the word “acrid” in the SDMB so I had to post this tidbit, from a Mad article on TV wiring:
HAND-WIRED CIRCUITS: Wires are strung by hand and soldered to contacts.
PRINTED CIRCUIITS: Wires are printed on the chassis with molten lead.
SHORT CIRCUITS: Wires are smoking on the chassis with acrid smell.
3-RING CIRCUITS: Wires are coming in from all over about this pun.
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. :o Oh yes–we too use Liquid Smoke. 
And we use tomato soup in cooking.
From Bugs Bunny:
My (Irish) mother used to make something like this. Something she called “lobskuss” (sp? I don’t know the spelling).
My family version of this is called Spanish Hamburger. I don’t have any idea where the name came from. My mom made it with macaroni, ground beef, a little onion, a little bit of chili seasoning and tomato juice
Possibly this?
Corned beef, potatoes, and onion? We call that ‘hash’. 
Thanks, DS!
From that link, I found the Norwegian variant (my father was Norwegian)
Lapskaus
Cheap. But good stuffs for a winter’s night. Kinda like goulash 
Oh, man, you had spices? I’m jealous. My mom made it with ground beef, tomato sauce, and elbow macaroni, all mixed together. This was in Pennsylvania.
I like the one with the beef cubes and onions in the tomato/paprika sauce, potatoes or noodles on the side. Here in Norway if you get offered goulash it’s often a soup (as in, too thin to be a stew) with those ingredients.
Given my parents Mid-West roots, Johnny’s recipe is the one that I grew up with and still make today when the wife’s away. I’ve had and enjoyed the Hungarian version, but it’s really a completely different dish, and doesn’t have the comfort level of the Americanized dish, which is essentially chili-mac without any chili powder.
One of my dad’s co-workers stayed with us while Immigration renewed her visa. This was a Hungarian woman named Marta and, yes, she did make authentic goulash for us.