Chicken Paprikash
This is a relatively modern dish, eaten in the northern parts of Hungary. In Hungarian, it's called Paprikás Csirke, and for me it evokes memories of my Nagymama's kitchen, full of the scents of fresh paprika, seasoning salt, and rendering lard. I've updated her recipes a bit, omitting the lard and adding in healthier fats like olive oil (or using chicken stock in its place), but the flavors are just as authentic as when she cooked them, so very long ago.
|
Ingredients:
|
In a heavy pan, cook the onions and bacon until the onions and clear and the bacon just beginning to crisp. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. While that's cooking, spray the bottom and sides of a heavy roasting pan (or other large cooking pot with lid) with olive oil or some other no-stick spray. Line the bottom of the pan with strips of raw bacon, so that the chicken won't be directly against the metal.
Place chicken pieces into the pan, layering neatly. If you can get it all in one layer, that's the best. If not, use the spices and onion mix over both layers. Sprinkle every piece of chicken with a heavy layering of good quality Hungarian sweet paprika (I use Szeged brand, available at Market Basket, Shaw's, and a few other grocery stores in New England and beyond). If you like a little heat in your chicken, you can do a little bit of the hot paprika as well, but stick largely to the sweet for this recipe. Add your onion mix, along with any pan drippings there might be, and a liberal amount of salt, pepper, and a touch of Lawry's seasoned salt. Add enough broth (my replacement for my Nagymama's lard!) that you can just see it about half way up the edge of your layer of chicken, and pop into a 375F oven.
The chicken should bake for a minimum of two hours, and if it's to remain in the oven after that, turn it down to the lowest setting on your oven and make sure that some liquid always remains in the bottom of the pan. When you're ready to serve, it should literally be falling apart as you remove it from the pan.
Using a slotted spoon, remove as much of the onions, garlic, and bacon as you can (and if you want, you can pop it back into the frying pan for a few more moments to firm it up and dry it off). In a large mixing bowl, add one pint of sour cream and whip lightly with a whisk until loose and beginning to "fluff" a bit. Add a few tablespoons of the pan drippings, one at a time, until the resulting sauce is "like a gravy". It should be easy to pour, but not so loose that it puddles. To this, add seasoned salt and powdered garlic until the flavor is as you like it. Whisk a few moments more, to be sure it's thoroughly blended.
Traditionally, Paprikás Csirke is served in a large platter with the sauce poured over it, a sprinkle of paprika over the top, and the onions and bacon garnishing the edges. Some add a bit of minced parsley, though I do not. It is usually offered up with a side of peas, seasoned stewed cabbage, and crisp dill pickles, and a crusty bread. It is also sometimes served over top of egg noodles or "pinch noodles" (called Csipetke, made from one egg, a pinch of salt, and some flour, thoroughly mixed into a stiff, dry dough and dropped into a boiling liquid such as chicken broth or the leftover pan drippings from the chicken paprikash). A hearty, crusty bread never goes wrong with Hungarian cooking, which tends to be juicy or have sauces involved. Bread helps sop up the delicious mess left on the plate after the solid food is gone.
This is a very hearty meal, and very inexpensive to make. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 4 days, or frozen for a quick dinner later in the week.
Some notes:
Place chicken pieces into the pan, layering neatly. If you can get it all in one layer, that's the best. If not, use the spices and onion mix over both layers. Sprinkle every piece of chicken with a heavy layering of good quality Hungarian sweet paprika (I use Szeged brand, available at Market Basket, Shaw's, and a few other grocery stores in New England and beyond). If you like a little heat in your chicken, you can do a little bit of the hot paprika as well, but stick largely to the sweet for this recipe. Add your onion mix, along with any pan drippings there might be, and a liberal amount of salt, pepper, and a touch of Lawry's seasoned salt. Add enough broth (my replacement for my Nagymama's lard!) that you can just see it about half way up the edge of your layer of chicken, and pop into a 375F oven.
The chicken should bake for a minimum of two hours, and if it's to remain in the oven after that, turn it down to the lowest setting on your oven and make sure that some liquid always remains in the bottom of the pan. When you're ready to serve, it should literally be falling apart as you remove it from the pan.
Using a slotted spoon, remove as much of the onions, garlic, and bacon as you can (and if you want, you can pop it back into the frying pan for a few more moments to firm it up and dry it off). In a large mixing bowl, add one pint of sour cream and whip lightly with a whisk until loose and beginning to "fluff" a bit. Add a few tablespoons of the pan drippings, one at a time, until the resulting sauce is "like a gravy". It should be easy to pour, but not so loose that it puddles. To this, add seasoned salt and powdered garlic until the flavor is as you like it. Whisk a few moments more, to be sure it's thoroughly blended.
Traditionally, Paprikás Csirke is served in a large platter with the sauce poured over it, a sprinkle of paprika over the top, and the onions and bacon garnishing the edges. Some add a bit of minced parsley, though I do not. It is usually offered up with a side of peas, seasoned stewed cabbage, and crisp dill pickles, and a crusty bread. It is also sometimes served over top of egg noodles or "pinch noodles" (called Csipetke, made from one egg, a pinch of salt, and some flour, thoroughly mixed into a stiff, dry dough and dropped into a boiling liquid such as chicken broth or the leftover pan drippings from the chicken paprikash). A hearty, crusty bread never goes wrong with Hungarian cooking, which tends to be juicy or have sauces involved. Bread helps sop up the delicious mess left on the plate after the solid food is gone.
This is a very hearty meal, and very inexpensive to make. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 4 days, or frozen for a quick dinner later in the week.
Some notes:
- Don't use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. While you can stick one or two in the very bottom of the pan with a bunch of bone-in meat on top (for picky eaters), the plain breasts tend to come out a bit on the dry side. The bone-in meat is delicious, moist, full of flavor. It's easy to pull breast meat off the bone for smaller children or those who dislike bone-in.
- I tend to use more rather than less garlic, because that's how my grandmother made it. Your tastes may vary. The recipe above calls for the minimum I would use. Feel free to use a lot more!
- Paprika is used almost like flour in Hungarian cooking (hence the bright red colors). Especially in northern Hungarian recipes, there are no tomatoes in the dishes (unless it's specifically a tomato based dish, which there are a few). Sweet paprika has a very distinct flavor, but it is not spicy at all. It's also not really related to the red dyed wood shavings that pass for American paprika.
- If your family likes bell peppers, it is traditional to use them in this recipe. You would place them amongst the chicken pieces, in the lower layers, so they are completely under the liquid. Pull them out with the chicken, and display prettily on your platter for serving.