Chicken Paprikash

When Woody Allen got cancelled, I defaulted to Albert Brooks. Annie Hall was (and maybe still is) my favorite movie; but when people ask, I say that my favorite movie is Defending Your Life because I can happily watch it over and over again and love it every time.

And then there’s When Harry Met Sally. Nora Ephron’s screenplay, directed by Rob Reiner, exists in the same orbit as those first two movies and, yet, it’s never been a favorite of mine. Don’t get me wrong: I like it! If I had to criticize it, I’d say that whereas Annie Hall is overt in its dichotomy between what Granny Hall calls “a real New York Jew” and a flighty, flaky WASP (played to perfection by Diane Keaton); When Harry Met Sally is less on-the-surface about its Jewish/WASP dynamics. I just Googled it and in the original version, Sally was Jewish and Harry wasn’t, which makes sense in that scene where Meg Ryan orders pie with all of those specifications. For me, When Harry Met Sally feels like it had its name changed at Ellis Island from Rabinowitz to Rose.

Waiter, There is Too Much Pepper on My Paprikash

You’re probably wondering what any of that has to do with a Chicken Paprikash recipe. Well there’s a famous scene in the movie where Harry and Sally are at The Met and Billy Crystal is talking with an accent and he says, “Waiter, there is too much pepper in my paprikash.”

The accent, I’ve come to realize, is Hungarian and that brings us to today’s chicken paprikash recipe which comes from Jeremy Salamon’s wonderful cookbook, Second Generation.

Jeremy is the chef owner of two restaurants here in Brooklyn: Agi’s Counter in Crown Heights, named after his beloved grandmother, and Pitt’s BK, which I’ve written about here on the blog.

I first met Jeremy in the early two thousands when I was working for the Food Network and I interviewed Jeremy in Boca about having a Food Network-themed Bar Mitzvah (!). Boy, how time flies. Now he’s a James Beard award-nominee for Best Chef New York and I’m… still a food blogger.

Brown Those Chicken Thighs

Like all of the best braises, this one starts with browning meat; in this case, chicken thighs.

Normally I take this step to an extreme — I really like to get my chicken thighs brown — but, as Jeremy points out in the recipe, you really don’t need to. It’s going to wind up simmering in a paprika-infused onion sauce, so the only reason to get it a little brown is to develop the fond (or brown stuff) on the bottom of the pan which will get worked into/improve the sauce.

Onions Onion Onions

Speaking of the sauce, the next step involves adding two whole onions sliced.

You cook those down for a while until they start to color; it takes about fifteen minutes or so.

Putting the Paprika in the Paprikash

What makes Paprikash Paprikash is — you guessed it — Paprika.

Jeremy’s recipe calls for both smoked paprika and hot paprika. I also had Noble Sweet Paprika from Burlap and Barrel so I mixed all three.

It’s really as simple as adding the paprika to the onions; that’s the crux of the whole recipe.

You also add tomato paste, toast it all for a bit, then deglaze with chicken stock.

Nestle the chicken back in….

And you cook it for 45 minutes just like that. The sauce will thicken, the chicken will absorb all of those flavors, and when it’s done you’ll have a bright red, flavor-packed, chicken stew ready to go.

On A Bed of Buttered Noodles

Jeremy suggests serving his paprikash with “a good, soft bread and plenty of slices of fresh bell or sweet peppers.” I went another direction and boiled some egg noodles and tossed them with butter and lots of herbs (dill and parsley).

The final ingredient is sour cream, which Jeremy has you whisk in a small bowl until “light and airy.” Then you dollop it over the top of the finished dish.

This was the coziest, easiest, cold December night meal. Perfect with a glass of red wine and the “When Harry Met Sally” soundtrack playing from your Alexa. Hey, it’s got a good soundtrack. One bite of this chicken paprikash and you’ll be orgasming like Meg Ryan at Katz’s Deli.