In our latest installment of Eating My Words, contributor Rebecca Peters-Golden gets the blood flowing with a passionate recipe–in fact, you could say it’s got some bite.
I think Valentine’s Day gets a bad rap: candy, hearts, flowers–I mean, it would turn anybody’s stomach.
More of a traditionalist, myself, I prefer to meditate on Saints Valentine of Terni and Valentine of Rome, martyred in the second century, or the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, a mob murder in Prohibition-era Chicago. Good times.
And, of course, it’s a quick hop from martyrs and massacres to . . . you guessed it: Vlad the Impaler, or Dracula, when he’s at home. You want romance? That’s romance.
And it all starts over a modest bowl of thick, velvety Chicken Paprikash, a traditional Hungarian stew.
In Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) hapless, well-intentioned solicitor Jonathan Harker is traveling to Transylvania for the first time at the behest of a new client.
A client whose table manners are perfect, even if he doesn’t seem to eat. Still, Jonathan is wined and dined–and almost dined on.
Jonathan notes in his journal that eating so much paprika gives him “all sorts of queer dreams” one night, as a dog howls under his window (5).
Now, I don’t know about all that, but the lovely red color makes a pink sauce that is perfect for a romantic meal à deux.
Bonus for Valentine’s Day: it’s a great, strong flavor that isn’t garlic, so your breath will be safe for your date (especially if your date is a vampire).
I wish you the best of luck for a Valentine’s Day that is a little bit less candy hearts and a little bit more delicious dinner, with a date that may or may not inspire an undying passion that will last beyond the grave!
“3 May. Bistritz–Left Munich at 8.35 p.m. on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning. . . . Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I got of it from the train and the little I could walk through the streets. . . The impression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the East. . . I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was very good but thirsty. (Mem., get recipe for Mina.) I asked the waiter, and he said it was called ‘paprika hendle,’ and that as it was a national dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the Carpathians” (3).
Oh, Jonathan, if only this recipe were all you brought back to London with you. . .
Chicken Paprikash
Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour5 minutes
Chicken paprikash, the traditional Hungarian stew, is thick and velvety with the subtle flavors of paprika and sour cream. It's perfect over noodles or rice.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound chicken boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced into strips
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced into strips
4 tablespoons Hungarian or sweet paprika
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup (6 ounces) sour cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 ounces egg noodles, cooked (you could sub in rice, potatoes, späetzle, dumplings, or bread)
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat.
Pat the chicken dry, then lightly salt and pepper it on both sides.
Brown the chicken, about 4 minutes per side. Set aside.
Lower the heat to medium, then melt the butter in the Dutch oven.
Stir in the sliced onion and pepper, along with a sprinkle each of salt and pepper.
Cook for 1 minute, then stir in the paprika.
Cook for about 5-7 minutes more until softened, stirring occasionally, then lower the heat to medium.
Return the chicken to the pan and pour in the stock.
Cover and bring to a simmer, then continue to cook for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is very tender and can easily be pulled apart with a fork.
Turn the heat down to low.
Whisk the sour cream and flour together in a small bowl.
Stir about 1/2 cup of the pan sauce into the sour cream mixture so the sour cream won't curdle.
Gently stir the sour cream mixture into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
Serve the chicken paprikash on a bed of egg noodles (or rice, späetzle, dumplings, etc.; or just dunk thick slices of buttered bread).
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Paprikas csirke is made with pan seared bone-in chicken pieces tat are then braised in a simple sauce made with chicken stock, onions, garlic, tomato paste or tomatoes, and lots of good quality sweet Hungarian paprika. The one thing you mustn't skimp on is using good Hungarian paprika.
Both paprikash and goulash are paprika-based stews, but goulash is made with beef and vegetables, while paprikash is most typically made with chicken. Recipes vary, but goulash is usually not thickened with flour like paprikash is, and goulash typically isn't enriched with cream or sour cream.
Chicken paprikash (Hungarian: paprikás csirke or csirkepaprikás) or paprika chicken is a popular dish of Hungarian origin and one of the most famous variations on the paprikás preparations common to Hungarian tables. The name is derived from paprika, a spice commonly used in the country's cuisine.
Hungarian paprika is often lauded as the most desirable and most flavorful iteration of the spice. It can be either hot or sweet and is made using ground Hungarian paprika chile peppers. In Hungary, paprika is further divided into eight categories based on gradations of sweetness and hotness.
If you don't have this everyday version on hand, you can use sweet Hungarian paprika as a substitute. Because regular paprika is mainly used for color rather than flavor, though, expect the flavor of your dish to change if the recipe calls for a decent amount of the spice.
The signature dish most famous for using paprika is chicken paprikash, a stew of chicken with an onion sauce richly colored and flavored with paprika. I grew up on paprikás csirke, as it is known in Hungarian. It is my comfort food, and that's exactly what it is for so many Hungarians and Hungarian-Americans.
In Hungary, paprika is grown in the Kalocsa and Szeged regions, where the climate is drier and the sun burns longer, giving the peppers their unique color and sweet zest.
This is a dish that works with both red and white wines and you need look no further than the region it originates in for something to pair pleasingly with it.
Rioja pairs well with traditional goulash as it's fruity, earthy, and robust. The paprika in goulash gives it a spicy and savoury punch that needs to be stood up to, and Rioja does just that! Rioja Crianza is usually the best type of Rioja to go for with goulash.
Sweet paprika is made using sweet peppers, while hot paprika is made using spicier peppers, and includes more of the inner pith, where most of the heat is concentrated. It tends to be less flavourful than sweet paprika, but what it lacks in flavour, it makes up for in spice.
Their beloved paprika has been banned from stores and markets after one-third of test samples were found poisoned with lead oxide. The drastic action was taken by health authorities last week after nearly 50 people were hospitalized with stomach aches, paralysis of limbs and other symptoms of lead poisoning.
Paprika contains high levels of vitamins C and E, with the former providing protection against cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. The iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium also found in paprika helps to purify the blood and keep the heart healthy.
Paprika is the Hungarian word for pepper, and Hungarian-style paprika is not smoked, but rather fairly sweet. It was the Turks who introduced the chilies to Hungary, and it's a very popular spice in Hungarian cuisine, giving distinctive flavor to soups and stews such as chicken paprikash and beef goulash.
Paprika is a spice powder made from drying and then grinding the pods of several different types of Capsicum annuum peppers (and in Hungarian the word paprika, confusingly, also refers to the peppers themselves).
Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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