Chicken Paprikash

This is such an easy dish to make and is so delicious, I honestly don't know why I don't make it a lot more often. It is rich and full-bodied, but not as high in fat or calories as you might think. If you're really concerned about fat grams, you can always use a low-fat or no-fat sour cream, or even plain yogurt in its place. In a dish this flavorful, I doubt that you'd notice a difference.

It's one of the hubber's favorite chicken dishes and let's face it... it's downright comfort food. To be honest, I love just about anything that you can serve over buttered noodles or rice. I often think that love of "protein plus sauce over starch" could have a lot to do with my age and the era that I grew up in. The 60's and 70's were a transformational period in regard to women's roles in the family and it affected how they handled the day to day care and feeding of their families pretty dramatically. All of these new "career women" suddenly found themselves juggling the kids, the household duties and their newest responsibility... a job. Jobs took working moms out of the home for anywhere from a couple of hours to a full 9 to 5 day - but as fate would have it, something new and innovative sprung up out of these changes. It was the foundation of the concept of "quick and easy weeknight cooking".

New ideas from brands like Betty Crocker and Campbell's Soup company allowed women to be able to toss a handful of pantry staples together and pour them all into a buttered baking dish (or a bit later on a crockpot), which helped to free up a lot of precious time for moms who were either going back to school, into the workforce or just beginning to work outside of the home. As buttered noodles and rice and one of the newest sensations, "instant potatoes" became the base for all kinds of oven-baked casseroles and crock-pot concoctions, women gained more time to pursue a career, attend those PTA & scout troop meetings or the kid's sporting events and still know they were feeding their families a hearty, tasty and usually pretty affordable meal.

You can certainly serve rice or mashed potatoes with this dish, but the usual or traditional Hungarian accompaniment for many meat dishes is generally served with spätzle, a noodle-like dumpling that has been a traditional staple for centuries in countries like Hungary, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc. It also happens to be a particular favorite of mine, but I have yet to attempt it in my own kitchen.

One of the best parts about Paprikash is that it has only a few ingredients that are readily available and with the pretty consistent weekly sales that we see these days on chicken in most local grocery chains, it can be quite affordable. The recipe is quick and easy and most important of all, it really is delicious!

Remember to always do your prep work first. It saves so much on time and it helps you coordinate your main dish and your sides, so it's more likely that everything will be ready at the same time.

Chicken Paprikash
(Serves 4)

• 4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (sliced in half lengthwise)
• 1 Large Onion, minced
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock or Broth
• 1/4 Cup Dry White Wine or Dry Vermouth
• 1 Cup Sour Cream (or Plain Yogurt)
• 4 Tbls Butter
• 1/8 Cup Sweet Hungarian Paprika (see ***Notes below)
• Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

If you're working with standard sized chicken breasts, start by cutting them in half lengthwise. This will help them to cook more quickly and evenly and stretch the recipe to feed more people and/or have yummy leftovers for lunch the next day. You can always purchase 8 thin sliced chicken breast cutlets to save more time, but I've been doing this for so long, it only takes me a minute. (And as I always say.... it's very important to have well-sharpened knives on hand in your kitchen. A properly sharpened knife is much less dangerous than a dull one.)



Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt & pepper.

Peel and chop the onion pretty finely. It's OK if you don't end up with perfectly symmetrical cubes of onion like the professional chefs do. Just try to keep the pieces as close in size as you can to ensure even cooking.

I'll do a small dice to start and then I'll reduce the dice even more to get the size that I'm looking for.

This results in a more smoothly textured sauce in the finished dish, so that ensures that nobody is chomping on big chunks of onion. Of course, it also helps speed up the cooking time. ⏰

You can start with 2 tablespoons of butter to saute the chicken and save the other 2 tablespoons as needed to cook your second batch and your onions, but I just throw it all in at once and I usually have plenty of butter left in the pan to take me the whole way through.

Cook the chicken over medium-high heat, turning several times until each breast is a nice golden brown on both sides. Turning the meat often also helps to the butter from burning. You don't have to cook the meat all the way through at this point, as you'll be putting it back in the pan again in a few minutes. You can test for doneness using the chart below. (for the purpose of this recipe, somewhere between a #3 a #4 on the chart is perfect at this point)

I always use the finger test to see whether or not the chicken is cooked all the way through. If you've never tested the doneness of meat this way and want to know exactly what you're looking for, see the chart below. This works with all meats and in my opinion, when it comes to chicken, you want the end result to be between #4 and #5 at the thickest part of the breast. (or thigh, if you are using those instead)

Once it's golden brown, remove chicken to a plate and set it aside. Add your onions to the same pan and saute' them over medium to medium-high heat until they're just translucent. Stir the onions frequently to prevent them from browning too much and scrape up the brown bits (the French call this fond) on the bottom of the pan.

You probably won't need to add any more butter after removing the chicken, but if you find the pan to be a bit dry, just add another teaspoon or two of butter - or even a bit of light olive or vegetable oil.

When the onions are translucent, pour in the wine or vermouth and stir very well, scraping up any remaining brown bits from the bottom of the pan. There's a lot of flavor in that fond!

You don't want the wine/vermouth to reduce too much at this point. One to two minutes at the most should be long enough before moving on to the next step.

Add in the Sweet Hungarian Paprika and stir well to combine.

***Note: It's preferable to use a good quality Sweet Hungarian Paprika for this dish. The "generic" paprika that you find in standard bottles or jars in the seasonings section of your grocery store, is often less flavorful, sometimes a tad bitter and not much good for anything besides decorating deviled eggs and potato salad. There are a couple of brands that will do in a pinch, but we try not to use them unless we haven't been able to find our preferred brand. (which happened to be the case when I prepared this recipe)

This looks like it's the original, but we've only been able to find it on Amazon.UK

The original brand that we've purchased for years had only the word "Szeged" at the top of the tin and underneath it, the words "Sweet (or Hot) Hungarian Paprika". It also said right on the tin that it was imported from Hungary. Authentic Hungarian paprika is made from drying and then grinding high quality sweet or hot Hungarian grown bell peppers into a powder, with nothing else (like fillers or preservatives) added. Our brand mysteriously disappeared from the grocery store shelves a few years ago and for quite a while we've had to resort to buying slightly higher-end American made brands, such as McCormick.

There is a particular brand that has shown up recently on Amazon and in several grocery chains and WalMart that's called Pride of Szeged (below), but there's been some controversy surrounding this brand because it doesn't say anywhere on the tin that its imported from Hungary.  The tin looks very similar to the "authentic" brand, but having used that one for many years, we can tell that this doesn't taste quite the same or have the same fresh sweet bell pepper aroma of the original. They also tend to charge the same slightly higher price as the imported stuff and if I'm not getting the "real deal" then I have no desire to spend the extra cash on it.

Is this an impostor?

Anyway.... Let's get on with this recipe, shall we?

Allow the paprika to cook with the butter, wine and onion mixture for a minute or two, to bring out its full flavor and aroma. This would also be a good time to put the water on to boil for your egg noodles. (or for you to prepare your rice, etc.)

Add the chicken pieces (and any juices that have accumulated on the plate - lots of flavor in those juices, folks - back to the pan and turn it several times to coat it thoroughly with the onions, the wine and the paprika.

Pour in the chicken stock and continue to turn the chicken over a few more times to coat it with the sauce again.

Add your noodles to your boiling water and cook according to the package directions. We like our egg noodles the same way that we like all types of pasta... al dente'.

Let the chicken simmer in the sauce for 2 to 3 more minutes to allow it to finish cooking thoroughly.

Remove the chicken to the plate again and cover it with a bit of foil to keep it nice and warm while you're finishing the sauce.

Making sure that your heat is no higher than medium, add in the sour cream and stir in with a spatula or a whisk to combine it completely. You generally don't want to boil a sauce that has sour cream or yogurt in it. This can cause the sauce to separate.

You want the sauce to be a solid coral/rusty red shade, without any streaks of white left in it.

Once the sauce is fully combined, add the chicken pieces back to the pan (don't forget those juices from the plate!) and turn it a few times to coat it well with the sauce. You can also spoon some of the sauce over the chicken to coat it thoroughly.

You can't really tell from the photo, but there were a few tiny bubbles in the sauce popping up here and there as it was coming back up to temperature up after the addition of the sour cream. This isn't going to hurt the sauce at this point. Just be sure to turn the heat down a bit more if the bubbling starts to increase.

Turn the heat down to the lowest setting on your cooktop and partially cover the pan while you butter your cooked and drained noodles or fluffed rice. If I happen to have some fresh flat leaf parsley on hand, I'll sometimes chop a bit of it up and add it to the noodles, just for a little pop of freshness and color. As you can see, I was too hungry and too impatient to do that on the night that I prepared this. LOL

How you serve the finished Paprikash is totally up to you. You can plate up your noodles and chicken individually or you can arrange everything on a large deep platter if you prefer and serve it "family style" at the table. Just make sure to spoon plenty of the delicious sauce over everything and if there's any left in the pan, be sure to pour it into a small bowl or pitcher to pass at the table.

Serve your masterpiece right away while it's piping hot and of course... enjoy!

Enjoy!

Mary


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Budget Friendly Beef Stroganoff

My mother used to call this "Poor Man's Stroganoff", but with the cost of food these days, I don't think there are too many types of meat that I'd call a bargain anymore. I swear that even though it's just the two of us now, our grocery budget climbs higher every week! That being said, this dish is quite a bit more budget friendly than the original 1950's Russian dish that it's derived from. The classic version was usually made with more expensive cuts of beef, like tenderloin and top sirloin.

As is usually the case with so many of my mom's recipes, I do make this a bit differently than she did. She never used any of the extra seasonings that I do and the mushrooms were a definite no-go for this (or any other) dish. Now, it wasn't in any way because the majority of our family wouldn't have liked it that way. But as I've noted quite often before, when I've shared my versions of my mother's recipes, my wonderful, yet oh SO picky Daddy never cared for "extras" like the ingredients that I tend to add to dishes like this one.

No matter what little extras I might add to it, or how differently I season it, this is one of those true comfort food style meals, that's easy to prepare and to have on the dinner table in a hurry if needed. And the icing on the proverbial cake, is that this is exactly the type of food that always brings back happy and comforting childhood memories for me. And you know what we call a recipe that does all of that around here, right? Yup... We call that, a Win/Win!!

Budget Friendly Beef Stroganoff
(aka Poor Man's Stroganoff)

• 1 & 1/2 Lbs Lean Ground Beef
• 8 oz Button Mushrooms, thickly sliced or quartered
• 1 Envelope Onion Soup Mix
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 10.5oz Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1/4 Cup Dry White Wine or Vermouth
• 1 Tbls Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Half & Half (possibly more)
• 1/2 Tbls Beef Base (*Better Than Bouillon)
• 6 Tbls Butter, melted
• 2 Tbls Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper (or to taste)
• 1-2 Cups Sour Cream
• 1 12oz to 14oz Pkg Extra Wide Egg Noodles

In a heavy skillet over medium high heat, add the ground beef, a bit of salt and pepper and cook the meat until it's nicely browned, breaking it up a bit with a spatula or a spoon as it cooks.

Getting some nice brown color on the beef, will give the dish added richness and flavor, too.

Sprinkle in the package of French onion soup mix.

Unless you end up with a whole lot of grease left in the pan after browning, you shouldn't need to drain it. A bit of juice/fat from browned meats like ground beef or pork sausage, will add to the flavor of the finished dish. I had almost zero fat left behind using what turned out to be a very lean ground beef, so I didn't drain mine, but I'll leave that choice up to you.

Pour in the cup of water and stir it well to incorporate.

If you have an open bottle of dry white wine, by all means, use it in place of the vermouth. But just as an FYI, you'll almost always see me using dry vermouth in place of white wine in pretty much any recipe that calls for it. It is THE perfect substitute, because it's actually white wine that's been fortified and will keep ten times longer sitting on the kitchen counter, than any white drinking wine would after it's been opened - and do it without turning into vinegar. Any unfortified wine, will go sour, eventually, even if it's been in the refrigerator. Plus, dry vermouth is just plain old good to have around, for use in the occasional (not so dry) martini.

Add the vermouth/wine to the pan and turn the burner up a squidge, so that it will reduce to a slightly syrupy consistency. This will 1) burn off (evaporate) the alcohol and 2) in this more concentrated form, give a subtle yet important depth to the finished dish, that wouldn't be there without it.

Obviously, if you just don't want to use any alcohol, or if you prefer not to go out and purchase a bottle of something that you'll probably never use again, you can leave it out entirely.

Once the vermouth has reduced, add in the mushrooms and stir well to distribute them in the pan.

At this point, I add a pinch more salt and pepper. If you've been around here for a while and are at all familiar with my recipes, you'll know that I always season in layers, or during intervals of the cooking process. Remember: each ingredient deserves to get it's own fair share of these staple flavor enhancers too!

Now, it's time to add the balsamic vinegar. Two tablespoons might not seem like much but trust me... this sweet and tangy delight is already highly concentrated and it will add just the right touch to compliment and balance out the tang of the sour cream that we're going to be adding later.

Give the meat another stir to distribute the vinegar, but there's no need to do any more reducing at this point. As I stated above, Balsamic Vinegar is already reduced quite a bit during the aging process.

Once you have all of those savory seasonings in the pan, it's time to start adding the ingredients that will make this rich and creamy.

In a small bowl, add the cream of mushroom soup, Worcestershire and the half & half and use a whisk or a large fork to incorporate them thoroughly.

Add all of the remaining seasonings to the soup mixture and stir it all up with your whisk.

If this combination of meat and sauce is a bit too thick at this stage, you can thin it out a bit with a little more half & half or milk.

(I'd forgotten to add in the beef base earlier, so I stirred it right into the 2/3 cup of half & half before pouring it in. If you've read through this recipe before starting to cook, you can add it into the meat mixture at the same time you add in your balsamic vinegar.)

It turned out that my sauce was a bit too thick at this stage, so I went with 2/3 Cup of additional half & half to thin it out a bit. I did this by eyeballing it. I've been cooking this dish for so long now, that type of thing just comes naturally. If you're more of a newbie to the process, never fear. You can start out with smaller amounts of liquid and add it in a bit at a time, until you feel like the sauce is at a "pourable" consistency. If you end up adding a bit too much, it's not a big deal either... it will reduce or evaporate on it's own with just a bit more cooking time.

These "soup base" versions of bouillon will dissolve quite easily, even in liquid that isn't very hot. I prefer this style so much more over those old crumbly, uber salty cubes and packets of powder and I honestly don't know how I lived without it in the past! There are a few of these paste style bases on the market now, so I'm sure you can find one pretty easily in most grocery stores.

The reason I felt that my sauce needed to be a bit thinner, was because I wanted it to pour/ladle nicely over the cooked, buttered noodles. It's just not the same if the sauce mixture just sits on top of your noodles. You really want to be able to mix it all up together as you eat and if it's too thick, that just doesn't happen as easily.

When you're done mixing the soup and other ingredients, put on a big pot of water and bring it to a boil for your noodles. I think that most people have cooked a pot of some type of pasta or noodles by the time they try out a more complex cooking experience, but just in case you haven't done it before, all you have to do is to follow the directions on the package and you're good to go. I start testing my noodles about 2 minutes before the instructions say that they should be done, because mushy pasta (of any kind) is a major no-no in our house! The Hubbs does not like even slightly overdone pasta! LOL

I like the "no yolk" extra wide egg noodles for their firm texture, but you can use your favorite brand.

I know I say this all the time, but whenever you are cooking pasta of ANY kind, whether it's spaghetti, egg noodles, macaroni, etc. ALWAYS make sure that your water is properly (which in this case means liberally) salted. As any true Italian chef will tell you, it should taste like sea water. OK. Don't be scared. I'll explain.

You see, pasta on it's own (especially dried, store bought pasta) is very bland and the only opportunity that you're gonna have to add flavor to it, is during the cooking process. We're working with very bland ingredients when we make pasta dough, so even if it seems like a lot of salt, the pasta is not going to absorb the salt to a point where it will taste overly salty or do you any harm. I promise. This is also one of the reasons why you should never rinse pasta after draining it. Believe it or not, by rinsing, you'll actually remove a fair amount of the flavor that you just infused with the salted water... not to mention you'll be removing all of the starch, which is what helps any sauce that you are using, cling to your pasta, instead of sliding off and being left behind on the plate.

What I do to keep my noodles from sticking together, is to toss in a little butter. OK... So it's more like a lot of butter. I mean... what's a li'l ole stick of butter between friends anyway? Besides, this IS for an entire bag of noodles ya know... Plus, it's gonna feed a whole bunch of people! Hmm, I hope that was convincing enough. Uh... it was? Phew! That's a relief! ;)

In all seriousness, I like to toss about half of the butter right into the empty pot because the residual heat left over from the cooking process helps to melt it more quickly and that way, it doesn't cool the noodles down as fast either! (So, have I justified it enough yet? LOL)

I add in the rest of the butter in tablespoons, as I add the drained noodles back to the pot, giving it all a good stir as I go. This way, all of the noodles are coated well and nothing sticks together.

Now comes decision making time...

You can do a couple of things here, depending on your personal preference or needs. You can either:

1) Dump all of the sauce right into the the noodle pot, add in a heaping cup (or two) of sour cream, mix it all together and serve it immediately in a lovely bowl, garnished with a bit of fresh chopped parsley. Or,

2) Put your hot buttered noodles in a pretty serving dish with a cover, (to keep them hot) place the meat and sauce mixture in another covered serving bowl and place that on the table as well, then pass a pretty little condiment bowl filled with sour cream at the table so that people can add what they want to the food on their plates. (This is what we do, as you can see in the photos below)

As you can see, we use option number two in our house, but my methods might not be what work best for you. Only you know the taste and preferences of your own families, so that's why I try to give you the option to choose for yourselves in the recipes I post here. You might even have a third or fourth option that you'd prefer to use. If so, please do share your ideas in the comments, because I know that I'd love to hear them and I'm sure that other readers would as well!

Just as an FYI, there are specific reasons that I serve this dish in the manner that I do. They are:

1) The sauce reheats much better when the sour cream has not been added to it. I've found that sour cream tends to create a sauce that in the reheating of any leftovers, will separate and turn a bit oily or greasy in the microwave. Uh, yeah. Yuck!

2) My family members all have different preferences when it comes to the sour cream itself and also to the proportion of "sauce to noodles" on their plate. Some like a bit more sour cream than others and some prefer to have fewer noodles and more sauce mixed together. This way, everyone at the table can "customize" their own Stroganoff! And the best reason of them all... I don't get any complaints! Now that's certainly reason enough for me!

Enjoy!

Mary



Don't Forget To Follow Me On Social Media! I Post Blog Updates, Ideas For Kitchen "How To's", Restaurant Recommendations And Reviews And Always Lots Of Photos!

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