Chicken Paprikash

It's a miracle. I cooked dinner and it turned out pretty amazing! Normally my cooking husband cooks the dinners around here. In our 5 years of marriage I have only cooked dinner 2 or 3 times. So it really was an exciting night for me. So what did I make? Well let me tell you....I made chicken paprikash. Ever since my trip to Eastern Europe this last March, I have been obsessed with Hungarian food. When we were in Budapest we had chicken paprikash and I knew I had to figure out how to make it. We found a simply delicious recipe from Simply Recipes. WOW, WOW, WOW. A thousand times WOW! We loved it. We will be making this again. 

Chicken Paprikash

Source: Adapted from Simply Recipes
Servings: 4-6 

2-2 1/2 pounds of chicken pieces, preferably thighs and legs
Salt
2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 pounds Vidalia sweet onions (about 2-3 large onions)
Black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp sweet paprika, preferably Hungarian
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup sour cream

Salt the chicken pieces well and let them sit at room temperature.

Slice the onions lengthwise (top to root). The original recipe called for yellow onions. Vidalia sweet onions are in season here in Georgia, so we decided to use them instead. I'm glad we did! They were a great contrast to the hot and spicy paprika.

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. Be careful not to tear any skin when turning them over. Remove the chicken and 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 black pepper to the onions and combine. I was a little giddy because I used the paprika I bought in Budapest. So fun.

 

Add the chicken broth to the onions, 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 50-55 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken pieces). If you don't want the chicken falling off the bone (which who wouldn't!?!?!), you can cook for 20-25 minutes instead.

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

 

Serve with dumplings, rice, egg noodles or potatoes. We chose Spaetzle egg noodles. That's how we had it in Budapest. Someday I would like to make this homemade Spaetzle recipe from Smitten Kitchen to go with this dish. This would make it even more mouth watering!

Tada! The delicious dish!