I LOVE chicken paprikash/paprika. I found a recipe online that I really enjoy, I often make it when I have a craving. However, most recipes involve adding flour or corn starch at the end, to thicken the sauce. Since I started my weight loss journey, I decided to skip that part. Instead, I boil the sauce down to thicken it. It seems to work quite well! So here is my favorite recipe, without the carby thickener. Enjoy!
Melissa's Chicken Paprikash (Chicken Paprika)
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs chicken ( about 3 whole
chicken thigh/drumstick joints, cut apart)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper
1 tablespoon Butter – cultured
unsalted (or olive oil)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large Anaheim pepper, cut in have
and thinly sliced (in a pinch, you can use a bell pepper)
¼ cup Paprika
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and
chopped (optional)
1 cup Chicken stock
1/2 cup Sour cream
Directions:
1.
With a paper towel, dab the chicken as dry as
possible. Meat browns better when its dry.
2.
Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over
the chicken.
3.
Heat a large skillet (heavy bottom
is best) over medium-high heat. Add the butter (or olive oil), and swirl to coat
the pan. Add the chicken, be careful not
to crowd the pan. If they don’t all fit
in your pan with plenty of room, fry the chicken in smaller batches.
4.
Let the chicken cook in the pan
until it gets golden brown on one side. Flip them over and let them brown on
the other side. Remove chicken from pan,
place in a bowl and set aside.
5.
Place the peppers and onions in the
same pan you cooked the chicken in. Reduce heat to medium, cover with a lid and
let the vegetables steam for about 10 minutes.
This will help them caramelize better.
Remove the lid and saute vegetables until the onions are golden brown.
6.
Add the paprika and garlic (if garlic is desired). Mix well into the vegetables. Fry and stir constantly, until the paprika
releases its flavors (about 30 seconds).
Be careful not to let the paprika burn or scorch, because it will turn
bitter.
7.
Now add the chicken broth and return
the chicken pieces back to the pan, along with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and
turn the heat down to medium, or medium low, to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook the chicken until it is
fall-off-the-bone tender (about 1 hour). Add a little more broth or water, if
the sauce starts to dry up. But as the
chicken gets closer to being done, let some liquid boil out, to thicken the
sauce.
8.
When the chicken is done, temper the
sour cream by placing it in a bowl and adding some of the chicken liquid to it (about
4 tablespoons full, one spoon full at a time), and stirring well after each
addition.
9.
Turn off the heat and remove chicken
from the burner. Add the sour cream mixture
to the chicken and stir to combine well. Do not allow the chicken to boil or
continue cooking on the burner after adding the sour cream. This will curdle the sour cream.
10.
Let chicken stand for 5 minutes,
then serve. Normally, it it served with
pasta or rice. But for low carb dieters, it can be served with vegetables.
