Your Sunday Dinner: Paprika Chicken

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I have a few things to confess before I give you this recipe. First, it isn't mine. I got it out of last week's PEOPLE, and let me tell you, that is a first. I'm usually not tempted by "Taylor Swift's Tatertot casserole" or "Angelina Jolie's angelfood cake." Like those people really cook? Pull the other one.


Second, I've never heard of the recipe's author (creator? Originator?), Carla Hall, despite the fact that she's apparently been on a big deal cooking show for three years. This is what life without cable gets you, folks. Cultural illiteracy. 


Third, I didn't even cook the dish myself. Ross did. In fact, I wasn't even in the house while he made it. I waltzed in from an afternoon writing at the library, set the table and sat down. However, Ross assures me it came together quickly, easily and economically. I can assure you it was delicious. Even Youngest said she'd like it again.


Chicken Paprika


Extra virgin olive oil  (ours was more like Slightly experienced olive oil)
 8 chicken thighs (recipe said skin on, but Ross knows I hate that, so he peeled them)
Kosher salt (we used Episcopalian salt)
1 onion, chopped
2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, finely chopped (Ross, afraid of overheating our New England palates, substituted jalepenos. But they really weren't that hot at all, so I would definitely up the ante to serranos.)
2 minced garlic cloves (we have the pre-minced stuff.)  
1/2 t sweet paprika
pinch of ground red pepper
1 c chicken stock (ours is home made, makes up for the cheap salt and convenient garlic)
1/3 c sour cream
1 T chopped Italian parsley



Simmer 1/8 inch oil in a deep skillet. Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and lay them skin side down in the oil. Cook 15 minutes, turn, cook another 5-10 minutes until "golden brown." (Our chicken wasn't quite golden. Guess that's what happens when you denude the thighs.)



Saute onion, chiles, garlic and 1/4 t salt in the pan drippings. Stir in paprika, red pepper, cook 1 minute. Add the stock, bring the mixture to a boil, and return the chicken to the skillet. Simmer the whole she-bang, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to the serving dish (Ross draped it with plastic wrap and threw a dishtowel over it to keep it warm.)

Reduce heat to low, whisk sour cream into the mixture in the skillet. Pour over the chicken, garnish with parsley. We had the chicken on a serving plate and poured the sauce into a gravy pitcher so everyone could add to his or her taste. We also nuked some egg noodles from the night before and served them beneath the chicken - that stretched it out nicely.

 
Excellent, as I said. Carla Hall has a new cookbook coming out at in April; CARLA'S COMFORT FOODS, FAVORITE DISHES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. If this is an example of what's in it, I'm going to order it for Ross.