Healthy & Delicious: Chicken Paprikash
On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us.
Lots of healthy, frugal dishes have the ability to wow a crowd. Simply put, they’re Suitable for Company dishes. Or even better: Impress Your Boyfriend's Parents and Make Them Love You Forever Dishes.
However, some cheap, waistline-friendly meals are more appropriate for the everyday. They’re the It’s Wednesday and I Have 20 Minutes to Make Dinner dishes. Or the Crap the Only Things Left in My Fridge Are Chicken, Peppers, and Heavy Cream dishes. Or The Boyfriend Hurt His Back and Only Delicious Food and Perhaps Hardcore Painkillers Will Make it Better dishes.
Chicken paprikash is one of the latter; not necessarily something you’d prepare for Queen Elizabeth but a tasty, comforting, simple dinner you don’t have to spend too many brain cells on. Served with egg noodles and a side vegetable, there are few suppers that can trump its down-hominess or general well-roundedness.
This version of Chicken Paprikash comes from Cooking Light, with a few changes. First, for better flavor, the onion and garlic are both fresh instead of bottled or frozen. Second, for thrift, instead of pre-sliced tenders, the chicken breast is bought whole, and then filleted at home. Third and finally, for kicks, there’s a solid dose of cayenne pepper. Some reviewers mentioned the recipe was a little bland without it, so be as liberal as you can tolerate.
In the end, Chicken Paprikash might not be Something You’d Serve to the Pope On Christmas, but it’ll definitely be a Rotation Worthy. And dangit, that's good enough for me.
Chicken Paprikash
- serves 4 -
Adapted from Cooking Light.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, filleted and cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if not using hot paprika)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
Egg noodles, for serving
Procedure
1. Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan, and keep warm.
2. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Return chicken to pan. Stir in cream and remaining ingredients; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is done and sauce is slightly thick. Serve with egg noodles.
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15 Comments:
There is too much pepper in my paprikash...
Truff at 11:46AM on 04/06/09
but I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie.
jlbrach at 12:16PM on 04/06/09
Truff. That was the first thing I thought of too:-)
ohmygod at 12:55PM on 04/06/09
No, no, no! Paprikás should contain sour cream, not heavy cream; lard, not oil; the onions browned alone; no garlic; tomato optional (though with is a different dish); hungarian wax pepper, not capsicum (and fresh or pickled, on the side); … Hungarian cooking is wonderful and unfortunately too little known.
malecki at 1:38PM on 04/06/09
and, although egg noodles are easiest, fresh simple egg-flour-salt dumplings are well worth the marginal effort if it’s not a quick weeknight dinner.
malecki at 1:40PM on 04/06/09
I get chicken paprikash everytime I visit this little Hungarian restaurant in Creemore, Ontario. It's my very favourite dish, and they prepare it better than anywhere else I've tried it.
Anyway, they serve it with "tiny dumplings", which, to me, is now inseparable from Chicken Paprikash.
I'm looking forward to trying this, but I'm going to have to figure out the tiny dumplings first!
kevster at 2:47PM on 04/06/09
kevster: the marvelous site i linked above (no relation I swear, but her recipes are as good as the annotated hungarian-church cookbook from my crazy great-aunt rose) can help out there too: they’re just spätzle, though the site’s author recommends using some farina (semolina would be good too).
malecki at 4:40AM on 04/07/09
Agreeing with Malecki - Chicken Paprikas uses sour cream, not heavy cream. I learned this recipe out of my mother's ancient Gourmet cookbook from the mid-70s and the recipe is fantastic.
(I cannot vouch for the lard instead of oil, though this would probably be more authentic.)
That being said, now I'm insanely hungry for this dish.
jd7979 at 5:44PM on 04/07/09
I'm OK with the heavy cream. Reason-my mother and her mother made it with half & half because my grandfather didn't like sour cream. So, I'm used to it. Also, they had abandoned lard to Crisco (easier to get; kept longer). But yeah, dumplings for sure!!
jsrebillot at 7:27PM on 04/07/09
My mom used to make this but with a whole, cut up chicken and a little heavier on the cayenne. It was one of my favorite meals back in the 1940s and 50s. Gonna make it this weekend!
old chef at 4:58PM on 04/08/09
OK, are you ready for the ultimate Hungarian drop noodle (dumpling) recipe? My mother made these whenever she made chicken or veal paprikas (with my help) and it's easy. She used just regular white flour.
3 C flour
3 eggs
1/2 to 3/4 C water (to make a fairly wet dough....but not soupy)
1 tsp. salt
Boil water in a large pot. Mix all ingred. together. Dip a tablespoon into the boiling water, then, starting on the edge of the dough, fill the spoon about halfway and dip the spoon again into the boiling water allowing the dough to drop off into the water. Repeat fairly rapidly so noodles cook uniformly. The dumplings are done when they rise to the top of the water, but check for doneness, they may need another minute. Drain and enjoy. I have no idea how to spell the Hungarian word for these, but my parents called them: noo'-kedd-lee
Willow Toth at 6:43PM on 04/09/09
ita @malecki my mum is Hungarian and I saw the headline and would never, ever consider chicken paprikash healthy! Delcious yes, but not waistline friendly.
Her method is to brown the chicken (whole chicken cut up with skin) in some fat (usually she uses butter and oil mixed) and then fry the onions in the fat until golden and brown.
She always serves it with egg dumplings (though she always uses the German word spaetzle, prol because she grew up in Zurich) and I have so many memories of her standing over a hot pot of boiling water slicing the dough into the water with a knife that she would quickly dip back into the water. She taught me how to make spaetzle this way and I still do.
Peony at 3:35PM on 04/11/09
Willow, I am glad you posted the recipe for NOKEDLI. It is the only noodle that should be served with chicken paprikas!
veragusta at 9:01AM on 04/13/09
Chicken Paprikas with Nokedli
Csirke Paprikás
(Yields: 4 servings)
Ingredients
1 frying chicken cut up (Free range)
1 large onion, peeled & chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA
I can stewed tomato
1 Italian green pepper sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons flour
1cup sour cream room temperature
pepper and salt to taste
Procedure
1. Heat oil in large skillet. Fry onions until golden. Remove from heat and add HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA. Stir and add chicken pieces. Sauté until all pieces are browned. Add chicken broth and stewed tomato, cover and simmer slowly until tender. Add green pepper last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove chicken pieces from pot when done.
2.Combine flour and sour cream in a small bowl add a couple of tablespoons of hot sauce from pot and mix to temper so the sour cream will not curdle. Add back to pot. Cook slowly, stirring, until thickened and smooth. Return chicken pieces to sauce, just heat it through. Serve over hot cooked nokedli.
veragusta at 9:08AM on 04/13/09
Chicken Paprikas with Nokedli
Csirke Paprikás
(Yields: 4 servings)
Ingredients
1 frying chicken cut up (Free range)
1 large onion, peeled & chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA
I can stewed tomato
1 Italian green pepper sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons flour
1cup sour cream room temperature
pepper and salt to taste
Procedure
1. Heat oil in large skillet. Fry onions until golden. Remove from heat and add HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA. Stir and add chicken pieces and garlic. Sauté until all pieces are browned. Add chicken broth and stewed tomato, cover and simmer until tender. Add green pepper last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove chicken pieces from pot when done.
2. Combine flour and sour cream in a small bowl add a couple of tablespoons of hot sauce from the pot and mix to temper so the sour cream will not curdle. Add sour cream flour roux back to pot. Cook slowly, stirring, until thickened and smooth. Return chicken pieces to sauce, just heat it through. Serve over hot cooked nokedli.
I am Hungarian and this my American version of the my kids favorite dish besides palacsinta.
veragusta at 9:26AM on 04/13/09