Chicken Paprikash

This dish makes me think of my best friend from childhood, Claire.  Her family happens to have Hungarian roots, which may or may not be why they made it all the time.  But they definitely had the dish perfected.  And I probably had the dish with them at least 20 times over the years.  It feels like that may be an exaggeration, but in all seriousness, I think it was around that many times.  I am by all means a paprikash amateur, and this did not come close to the paprikash wonders experienced at Claire's house over my formative years, but it didn't come out half bad, either.  I got the base for this recipe from Simply Recipes, but there are a ton of great paprikash recipes floating around out there, with all kinds of variations that I want to try.  I like to up the amount garlic and spices in a recipe, usually.  Almost as a rule.

You start with thinly sliced onions (2-3 depending on size).  Add a couple tablespoons of paprika, a dash of cayenne, a dash of salt, and some water (I put in about half a cup).  Mix it all up in a baking pan.

Add pieces of chicken to the onions in the baking pan.  Use about three pounds of chicken.  I used a chicken cut up into pieces (with skin and bones and all).  Next time I might try using chicken filets.  This was delicious, but it might be a little less fatty without the skin (but also less tasty).  If I need a shortcut in the future, I might try using leftover chicken (and just use chicken broth in the onion mix), since cold meat is easier and less painful to shred.

Prepare the chicken by rubbing garlic (one or two cloves) and butter over the pieces.  If using skin, rub it under the skin as well.

Once the chicken is on the bed of onions, stick it in the oven.  You can also cook it on the stovetop, but I prefer the oven.  Cook it at around 350-400 degrees for 40 min-1 hour (I just used a meat thermometer to check when it was done). 

Once the chicken is done, remove the pieces to a separate plate and cut it off the bone and into smaller pieces.  If you used a chicken with skin and bones, take the fat off from the top of the onion bed.  Then add some more water or stock to the onion bed (again, only a little bit).  Put the baking pan on the stove top and bring to a boil.  Add a little bit more salt, paprika.  Then add a couple tablespoons of sour cream.  Stir.

That's it.  Serve up the chicken and pour the sauce over it.  Voila, chicken paprikash.
I steamed up a head of broccoli (sprinkled with cheese) as a side dish. 

 

It made for a pretty dinner. 

 And plenty of leftovers for tomorrow!