Smokey Chicken Paprikash

Serves: 4
Time:1.5 hours

What better way to ring in the new year than to put some miles on my newest piece of crockery. A big shiny red dutch oven needs to be filled with something hearty, so to start 2015 I made Chicken Paprikash.

This is another dish reminiscent of one of my former favourite restaurants. Chicken Paprikash is a thin Hungarian stew made with chicken and sweet paprika. A lot of it. Whole chicken parts are doused in Hungarian paprika before being baked in the oven with onions, peppers, and often potatoes. When the timer beeps you find very juicy chicken nestled in mildly sweet paprika gravy. Often sour cream is added to complete the sauce, but it can be left out if you like or substituted with tomato sauce. Ladle it out and lap it up.

To give this dish a smokier flavour I added chipotle chili powder to compliment the sweetness without overpowering the paprika. I think this dish would be even better if the chicken sat in the paprika mix overnight before cooking, but for those of us who have difficulty planning ahead, 30 minutes is fine.

⦁    1 whole frying chicken, cut into pieces
⦁    5 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
⦁    1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
⦁    1 tablespoon ground chipotle chili powder
⦁    2 tsp salt
⦁    2 tablespoons olive oil
⦁    2 whole cloves garlic, crushed
⦁    2 cups chicken stock
⦁    1 medium onion, chopped
⦁    1 green pepper, chopped
⦁    1 red pepper, chopped
⦁    2 bay leaves
⦁    1/4 cup sour cream

1. Pat the chicken dry. Season well on all sides with paprika, parsley, salt and chili powder. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
3. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven on medium high heat.
4. Brown the chicken pieces in batches,  about 1 minute per side and set on a plate.
5. De-glaze the pan with 1/4 cup of chicken stock.
6. Add the garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute, stirring well.
7. Add the onion, green pepper and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper if desired .Cook until the vegetables are  softened.
8. Stir in the remaining chicken stock and bay leaves. Pile the browned chicken in the pan and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper.
9.When the stock begins to boil, place the cover on the dutch oven and transfer to the oven.
10. Bake for 35-40 minutes then remove from the oven and transfer to the stove top. Remove the chicken pieces and cover them with foil. Set aside.
11. To make the sauce, heat the stock and cooked vegetables in the dutch oven again on medium heat. Whisk in the sour cream and stir until bubbling. Add salt and pepper as needed.
12. Serve the chicken with sauce on a bed of mashed potatoes. Curl up and enjoy!