Grandma Grace’s Chicken Paprikash

BY GINA KEATING & DANNY STEWART

Danny has this week off so that I can bring you a cold-weather favorite from the Czech side of my family: chicken paprikash. The recipe comes with a story that my Italian grandmother, Grace Virginia Faenza, used to tell as she stood in the kitchen in one of her faded flowered aprons as my brothers and sisters and I waited hungrily for a bowl of this creamy, hearty comfort food.

Hungarian-style chicken paprikash was the favorite dish of my grandfather, John Sopuch, who immigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia at age 14. His Hungarian mother, Mary Hulak, guarded her recipe from the old country very closely. As a young bride, my grandmother would stand outside Mary’s kitchen and peer around the doorway, trying to discern the ingredients and proportions.

Eventually, Grandma Grace came up with her own take on this simple dish that pleased my grandfather and every generation of Sopuchs that followed. Paprikash is the signature dish of Hungary, and can be served with any protein. You can substitute portobello mushrooms and veggie broth for a vegetarian version.

According to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street food blog, the origins of chicken paprikash “can be traced back to a simple one-pot chicken stew, a dish favored by the poor and thus often bolstered by large quantities of inexpensive onions. In time, paprika was added – and later a spare amount of tomato - creating a dish known as pörkölt.”

In the 1920s, chefs in Budapest “seeking to mimic the French use of heavy cream to create luxurious sauces doctored a chicken pörkölt with the more common option in Hungary - sour cream,” Kimball wrote.

When my family gets together, there is always a big pot of chicken paprikash alongside whatever traditional American holiday meal we serve. I hope you enjoy this Italian-Hungarian fusion food as much as I do. As always, all ingredients are available at Stewart’s Food Store.

Jo étvágyat!

Suggested ingredients:

3 tbsp vegetable oil 1 Vidalia onion, roughly chopped 1 whole cut-up chicken, skin on 2 tbsp sweet paprika 3 chicken bouillon cubes (or more to taste; 1 per cup of water added) 1 pint sour cream 1/2 pint water 4 tbsp flour (or more, for thickening) 3 tsp Lawry’s seasoning salt (optional) 4 eggs 3 cups water 6 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp salt Preparation:

Chicken and sauce: Step 1: Heat the oil in a large pot or pressure cooker. Cook onions over medium- high heat until translucent. Remove from heat before onions brown and mix in paprika.

Step 2: Brown the chicken pieces with the onion/paprika mixture, in batches if necessary. Add a small amount of oil if needed.

Step 3: Add water to almost cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, and add chicken bouillon cubes. Add the Lawry’s seasoning salt, if using. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes with a regular pot, or about 15-20 minutes with a pressure cooker.

Step 4: While the chicken is simmering, mix the sour cream, water, and flour together until very smooth.

Step 5: When the chicken is done, remove pieces to a colander to cool. Slowly add the sour cream mixture, a little bit at a time to the broth, stirring constantly to incorporate. Debone and shred the chicken and add it back to the sauce, or serve the pieces whole.

Dumplings:

Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a mixer, combine eggs, water, flour and salt. Mix together to form a soupy dough. When water is boiling, scrape the dough into the water a spoonful at a time. (Hint: Wet the spoon first in the boiling water so the dough won’t stick to it.) Cook dumplings for about 7 minutes, until they rise to the surface.

Step 2: Drain and rinse. Step 3: Serve dumplings and chicken in bowls and pour sauce over them. Step 4: Enjoy with a salad and crusty bread!