A Full Plate: Chicken Paprikas

This is a quickie, but a goodie. I made chicken paprikas last week to use up some sour cream that I had and celebrate the arrival of my Mountain Rose Herbs order, which contained 4 oz. of paprika (!). It’s a delicious, simple dish, and perfectly suited to a weeknight, though I did come home a little early to cook it.

Chicken Paprikas

(based on my Hungarian grandmother’s recipe)

6 strips of bacon, baked and chopped, grease reserved

8 chicken thighs (about 2 lbs., with bones and skin)

1/2 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp. paprika

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1-3 tsp. arrowroot powder

Brown the chicken thighs in bacon grease in two batches until the skin is crispy and brown in the bottom of a Dutch oven. Remove to a plate. Add the onions and garlic and saute until fragrant, probably less than a minute. Add the paprika and stir to coat with grease. Add the chicken broth, scrape the bottom of the pot, and add the chicken back to the pot. Simmer, covered, for about an hour. Then, stir together the sour cream and arrowroot and a small amount of cooking broth. Add this back to the pot along with the chopped bacon and bring back, just to a simmer. Don’t let it boil after adding the sour cream. Serve over egg noodles or with potatoes or with biscuits or (if you are very traditional) egg dumplings, which are called nokedli in Hungary. Makes 4 generous servings.

This is part of Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage