Chicken Paprikash

I'm sure you've been feeling a lot of suspense, wondering what I ate with the German Red Cabbage.  Finally, here is your answer.  Chicken Paprikash!

Until this week, I had never heard of Chicken Paprikash.  Apparently, it is a Hungarian dish, which makes sense given that good paprika always comes from Hungary.

I was surprised that the chicken is only seasoned with salt.  If I made it again, I'd probably season it with paprika, cayenne, and ground pepper before I browned it.  There was still plenty of flavor from the sauce, but I think it would have made it that much more flavorful.

Overall, this was a pretty easy dish to make as well.  Once the chicken is brown and the onions are caramelized, I could just let it cook low and slow for a half hour or so.  With the cabbage this was a great meal to serve to a guest because I could still chat and not have to think about staying on top of my food to make sure it didn't burn or another step was needed.  When I make Asian foods I find that I have to pay so much attention that I'm running around the kitchen, leaving a mess in my trail - but with this I even had time to clean as I went!

The flavor of this chicken was fantastic. I think I could have kicked up the spice (which seasoning with cayenne before browning would have helped with) and also could have cooked it for a little bit less time (they were a little dryer than I like).  I served it with spätzle, which I bought at World Market.  Of course, the day after I bought it, Deb at Smitten Kitchen posted a spätzle recipe - so next time I will make my own! 

Chicken Paprikash

from Simply Recipes

Yield: 3-4

Ingredients:

2 to 2 1/2 pounds of chicken pieces, I used skin-on, bone-in breast

Salt

2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 pounds yellow onions, (about 2-3 large onions)

Black pepper to taste

2 Tbsp sweet paprika, preferably Hungarian

1 teaspoon (or to taste), hot paprika or cayenne

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions:

Salt the chicken pieces well and let them sit at room temperature while you cut the onions. Slice the onions lengthwise (top to root).

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter. When the butter is hot, pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and place them skin-side down in the pan. Let the chicken pieces cook 4-5 minutes on one side, until well browned, then turn them over and let them cook 2-3 minutes on the other side. (Take care when turning so as not to tear the skin if any is sticking to the pan.) Remove the chicken from the pan to a bowl, set aside.

Add the sliced onions to the sauté pan and cook them, stirring occasionally, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.

Add the paprika and some black pepper to the onions and stir to combine. Let cook a minute more. Add the chicken broth, again scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and then nestle the chicken pieces into the pan, on top of the onions. Cover and cook on a low simmer for 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken pieces). When the chicken is cooked through (at least 165° if you use a thermometer, or if the juices run clear, not pink when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a knife) remove the pan from the heat. (If you want, you can also keep cooking the chicken until it begins to fall off the bone, which may take another 30 minutes or so.)

When the chicken is done to your taste, remove the chicken from the pan. Allow the pan to cool for a minute and then slowly stir in the sour cream and add salt to taste. If the sour cream cools the sauce too much, turn the heat back on just enough to warm it through. Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce.

Serve with spätzle, dumplings, rice, egg noodles or potatoes. (If cooking gluten-free, serve with rice, potatoes or gluten-free noodles or dumplings.)