This wasn't originally going to be tonight's diary topic. While working on my dissertation, I stumbled upon a fascinating (and forgotten) bit of history that I really wanted to write about tonight. But I hit a brick wall today as I was trying to piece it together, and I realized there is still one document I need to make the story complete. I probably could have written the diary without it, but I wouldn't have felt good about it. I've written to an archive in the hopes of getting a copy mailed to me. So maybe at some point in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, you're stuck with food tonight, because I'm hungry.
Azazello wrote a CUA diary this week asking us which ethnic foods we enjoy cooking. Of course, I'm into Vietnamese and Thai cuisine, in addition to Italian. I dabble in others here and there as well. But as I said in the comments, recently (in the last year or so) I've gotten into Hungarian food. I've been cooking a lot of it in the winter months, because nothing comforts quite like a bowl of gulyas (you know, our frigid Texas winters). Another favorite of mine is chicken paprikash. Just mentioning Hungarian food earlier this week made me crave a big plate of chicken paprikash, so that's what I'm having for dinner tonight. Follow me below the paprika-laden chicken thigh for my version of the dish...which is no match for your Hungarian grandmother's, but we'll make do...
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Really, it couldn't get much easier. The hardest part of chicken paprikash is patiently waiting for the chicken to simmer long enough to reach absolute succulence. Here's everything you'll need:
First, let's talk chicken. Traditionally, this dish would be made with bone-in, skin-on chicken, most likely quartered chicken pieces. I would love to make it that way. The bone and skin would add much more flavor to the dish, not to mention how lovely the presentation would be. But I exclusively use boneless, skinless chicken for this kind of a one-pot meal. The reason is not because I'm lazy. It's because I'm on Weight Watchers, and it becomes quite a bit more complicated to count my points when I'm working with a sauce
and bone-in, skin-on chicken that nutritionally varies depending on how much meat vs. bone there is. Not impossible, just enough of a pain in the ass that I stick to boneless, skinless meat for sauces and stews. For chicken paprikash, I much prefer boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I usually cut them into halves or thirds. I'm using about two pounds.
Second, the next star of the show: the paprika. I never thought I'd be such a fanatic about paprika until I discovered Hungarian sweet paprika. This stuff is my life. For this dish, it really needs to be Hungarian sweet (for the love of God, not hot) paprika. If possible, find Szeged, named of course after the Hungarian city that is known as the home of paprika. If you don't think you can find it, I bet you can. Over Thanksgiving, I looked in the spice row of my little hometown supermarket in rural northwestern Pennsylvania (which doesn't even carry fresh herbs), and they had Hungarian paprika.
I've seen chicken paprikash recipes that call for a tablespoon (or even a teaspoon) of paprika. Lulz. You'd might as well not add it at all. No, the only way to use Hungarian paprika is excessively. I use a heaping 1/4 cup. That sounds like a lot, and it is, which means it's just right.
For the initial steps, you'll also need a chopped large onion, four or five minced cloves of garlic, a cup of chicken stock, and salt and black pepper to taste.
Oh, and some peppers. I think I use more peppers than most recipes call for, but I like it that way. Green bell peppers are often used in chicken paprikash. I've heard, though, that Hungarian green peppers are much sweeter in flavor than our bitter bell peppers. I've read that red bell peppers are closer to the flavor profile one needs in Hungarian dishes. But I read it on the Internet, so it's probably wrong. I'm okay with that, though, because I love red bell peppers. I chop two of them.
Start by adding some lard (or, in my case, rendered bacon fat) to a large pan and getting it nice and hot. Dry the chicken thoroughly and generously salt and pepper it. Add it to the pan, in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Cook it on both sides until it develops some color, then remove it from the pan.
Add some more fat to the pan and throw in the onions and peppers with a healthy pinch of salt. Sweat them...well, a long time. Ten minutes or so. Until they look like this:
Add the garlic and paprika, taking care not to scorch the paprika, because that would be a dirty shame. If there isn't enough liquid in the bottom of the pan, you might want to add just a little stock before the paprika just to avoid that fate. I did.
Cook a few seconds, until fragrant. Don't overdo it. Add the chicken stock, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the browned chicken (and accumulated juices!), along with a grind or two of black pepper. If the water from the vegetables hasn't already deglazed the chicken fond from the bottom of the pan, do so now and scrape up all of those lovely brown bits.
Cover and simmer for an hour, or until the chicken is deliciously tender. Those onions and peppers are going to continue to break down, and the chicken is going to continue to give off juices, so there is going to be plenty of liquid by the time it's done.
In the meantime, there is one more thing to do. Mix 1/2 cup of sour cream (none of that "light" crap, either) and a tablespoon of flour. The sour cream will add, um, creaminess (and awesomeness, because sour cream), and the flour will act as a bit of a thickener for the sauce. Set it aside until the chicken is done simmering.
When the chicken is done, check for seasoning. You'll also need to stir in the sour cream mixture. But you can't just add it, because it will curdle, and that wouldn't be any fun. Take the chicken off the heat and spoon a little of the liquid at a time into the sour cream mixture. This will temper the sour cream. Once you've added a few spoonfuls, you can add the entire mixture to the pan--just don't put it back on the heat, or it will be Curdle City. Stir and it's done!
There are many ways to enjoy chicken paprikash. It's really good over rice, or with a nice, crusty hunk of sourdough. Anything that soaks up that amazing sauce. My favorite way to eat it is over some wide egg noodles, and that's how I'm doing it tonight. These noodles were
made to be slathered with this sauce.
It's been a rough week, but this makes it better. So much better. Now, on to why you're here tonight...
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