Chicken Paprikash
The first time I made this dish for my boys, they tasted it and glared at me. It was the look of annoyance and disbelief that I had never made it for them before! It’s now one of their favorites, a frequent request when they come home to visit.
It’s not a very difficult recipe, but you will want to get sweet Hungarian paprika for it. I’ve been asked about using hot, but once when I was a kid, my father – who loved to cook, and loved spicy food – used hot instead of sweet. We rinsed the chicken and made a new batch of sauce, but it was still pretty much inedible! I’ve never tried this, but I suppose you could experiment with some sweet paprika and some hot. (Note that the level of spiciness certainly will vary depending on the brand.)
We tend to buy whole, air-chilled chickens from our local butcher and have them break it down into eight pieces, but feel free to substitute whatever bone-in, skin-on parts you prefer, all thighs, or all breasts, or a combination will be fine.
I didn’t have any mushrooms in the house this time, but when I do, they’re a great addition. Be sure to serve this with something for the sauce, preferably noodles, although rice or baked potatoes would be fine, too.
Chicken Paprikash
Serves 4
1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds, cut into eight pieces or whatever combination of bone-in, skin-on pieces you prefer
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 large garlic clove, chopped or put through a garlic press
2 Tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1½ cups crushed tomatoes (canned)
1¼ cups chicken broth
⅓ cup flour
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup sour cream
1-2 Tablespoons dry sherry
In a large Dutch oven that will hold all the chicken, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and brown the chicken on all sides, in batches if necessary to avoid crowding at this stage. Remove to a bowl.
In the fat remaining in the pot, sauté the onions until beginning to color. If you are using sliced mushrooms add them to the pot and sauté until they have given up their liquid and are beginning to brown. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute while stirring. Add the paprika and stir briefly to release the oils into the pan. Add a small amount of the chicken broth and scrape up anything stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the broth and tomatoes, stir and let warm a bit. Add chicken back to pot, along with any juices that have settled in the bottom of the bowl. Cover and cook, adjusting the heat to maintain a medium simmer, for 30-40 minutes.
Remove chicken to a platter and keep warm. Mix flour and heavy cream in a small bowl (it will be a sticky mess but that’s fine) and add to the sauce in the pot, whisking well. (Some of the flour will clump, but eventually the clumps will all disappear as the sauce soaks in.) Stir in the sour cream and allow to heat through, without letting it boil. Stir in sherry just before serving.
Serve the chicken pieces with the sauce over egg noodles or something else with which to enjoy the sauce!