This recipe is from "The 60-Minute Gourmet" by Pierre Franey, former food editor for the New York Times. Jeri (elderjane) got it at a garage or estate sale and gave it to me. The French name is Saute de Boeuf Hongroise. It's pretty much the way I make Beef Stroganoff, but calls for sweet heavy cream instead of sour cream. According to Pierre, 'hongroise' refers to Hungary, so that explains why this sounds like a Hungarian goulash recipe with the paprika in it.

I'm not sure why two skillets are required, but I'm giving you Pierre's recipe, and you can decide how you want to proceed. He seems to think it makes a difference.

Beef Strips with Paprika Cream Sauce

1 1/4 pounds lean, tender, boneless beef, preferably from a shell steak*
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely minced onions
2 cups thinly sliced sweet green or red peppers, preferably a combination of both
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream

Cut the meat into strips about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches long. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and paprika. Blend well with the fingers to coat the meat. Melt half the butter in a heavy skillet and add the onions and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in another skillet and add the beef pieces, stirring and turning over high heat for about 2 minutes. Remove the pieces of meat and set aside. Do not wash or wipe out the skillet. Add the green pepper mixture to the meat skillet. Add the wine and cook about 1 minute, stirring. Add the cream and bring to a boil and cook over high heat about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the meat and drippings and serve. Makes 4 servings.

*Shell steak is also called a strip steak, a boneless club steak, or a New York steak

Speaking of paprika reminds me that most of my paprika is really, really old. I mean like maybe 40 or 50 years, some of it. What do you expect from a spice that only gets sprinkled lightly onto deviled eggs when they made their rare appearance at family Memorial Day picnics? We also put it on potato salad, and that's about it. I did buy some Smoky Paprika a couple of years ago because all the Food Network chefs kept calling for it, another one of those ingredient fads that will eventually fade just as sun dried tomatoes are barely heard from these days. I mostly use it in the barbecue rubs that are so important any more, but I'll try it in this recipe.

Real Hungarian recipes that I've seen call for special sweet paprika, which is different from the smoky variety or that heirloom stuff my mother passed down to me and I'll leave to my heirs, so if you have the sweet kind, might as well use it for this.

What to serve with this? Pierre says: "A simple platter of buttered noodles would be infinitely appropriate as an accompaniment. But if you want to be just a touch more creative, you might consider a hastily made skillet of sauteed potatoes." That's skillet number three in case you've lost count.