For most of us, there are smells that are firmly implanted in our memory like play-doh, the paste we used in kindergarten, or even freshly minted mimeographs we were handed while in school.
For me, the smell of my grandma's house is what I will always remember. To be a little more specific, it is the aroma of chicken paprikash simmering on her stove. This heavenly aroma always makes me think of the times when the whole family gathered a my grandparent's table where we would stuff ourselves until we could barely waddle home.
Chicken paprikash, in the traditional sense, takes FOREVER to prepare. Fortunately for me however, my brother has came up with a quick version that only takes about 30 minutes to prepare (but 3 or 4 hours to cook). This version of paprikash tastes just as good (if not better) then the "real thing". My brother had even made this the last time some family came over from Hungary and got the official Hungarian seal of approval.
Yesterday, I had my brother over to show me exactly how it is done...
We started by browning 3 lbs of boneless, skinless thighs (cut up into 1 inch pieces). We then removed the chicken and then browned 3 thick slices of bacon (cut into small pieces). Once browned, we added 2 "tennis ball" sized onions (diced fine) and sweated them until soft.
We then added a pound of fresh muchrooms (washed and sliced). Once the mushrooms gave up their water, we added the chicken back into the pot, and added 3 tablespoons of paprika, salt, pepper, a can of chicken stock and 2 cans of water.
We covered this and simmered low for 3 hours (until the chicken fell apart). This simmering sent the aroma of chicken paprikash all throughout the house. To a Magyar like me, that smell is better than Chanel number 5 perfume!
While waiting for the paprikash, I whipped up a nice size batch of spaetzle (4 cups flour, 5 eggs, salt, and a little dash of nutmeg, boiled and then quenched in ice water).
After about 3 hours, we took a cup of sour cream, and whisked in 2 tablespoons of flour. This was then stirred into the paprikash which then thickened greatly. We continued to cook for 15 minutes and then served it over the spaetzle...
Folks, I don't want to brag, but this was one of the finest meals I had in a long time. It is creamy, savory, and very comforting. I swear that if you had just one bowl of this, you could beat back a marauding band of Turks single handed!
Here is a pic of the finished product. Although it is a chicken dish, It does have a bit of a bacon flavor that goes very well with either red or white wine. In this case, I am having a 2012 Chilean cabernet