Chicken Paprikash – Chris’s Version

 I’ve been using this recipe from the Youngstown, Ohio, Angels and Friends Cookbook for decades. Milk Street  offered up their version this year.

I blended them here, and I think improved on both!

Ingredients:

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter (or mix butter with some oil to prevent burning)

1 ½ cups chopped onion

Shallot, chopped (optional)

2-4 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)

Some combination of 2 peppers – bell, Anaheim, cubanelle, chopped. (Some hot, some sweet, your choice!)

2 large roasted red peppers (from a jar with some juice)

Juice of ½ lemon

1.5 pounds chicken, in large chunks (I used the tenderloins for Costo, whole)

¼ cup paprika (some combination of sweet, hot, smoked, or all sweet)

½ teaspoon salt.

2 cups chicken broth (Better Than Bullion always works)

2 more tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1.5 cups sour cream

Dumpling/biscuit mix of your choice. See below for what I used.

Preparation:

1.      Melt the butter. Add the onions (shallots and garlic, if using). Cook until translucent.

2.      Add the chopped peppers, roasted peppers, lemon juice and chicken. Cook until vegetables soft. Chicken won’t be cooked yet.

3.      Add the paprika and salt, stir until combined.

4.      Add the broth and simmer over low heat – bottom will burn otherwise.

5.      Cover with lid and cook until chicken is tender.

6.      While chicken is cooking, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and add the flour. Cook until this roux is light brown.

7.      Remove the roux from heat and let cool down a bit.

8.      Add the sour cream and stir until combined with the roux.

9.      When the chicken is done, scoop a few tablespoons of the broth into the roux mixture. Do this 2 or 3 times and combine until smooth each time.

10. Stir the roux mixture into the chicken pot and heat back up to a low simmer.

11. Drop the biscuit mix in large dollops on top of the pot and cook 10 – 15 minutes until biscuits are cooked through. I had to pull one apart to know for sure, though a temperature probe is another option! (Internet says 190 degrees.)

12. When biscuits are done, you are ready to serve.

Biscuits:

Ingredients:

I had Kodiak Pancake and Waffle Mix handy, so I used

2 cups of the mix

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black (or white) pepper

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 cup buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients, then the wet and combine. Dollop over Paprikash and cook until done.

 

Ma Po Tofu – Pock Marked Old Woman’s Tofu

Adapted from Every Grain of Rice by Fuschia Dunlop

500—600 g plain white tofu

4 baby leeks or spring onions, green parts only (I used whites, too, just added them earlier after adding beans)

4 tbsp cooking oil

2 1/2 tbsp Sichuan chilli bean paste

1 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and drained

2 tsp ground red chilies (I ground up the whole chilies from the Asian grocer, and they were pretty hot. Might back off a bit!)

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 tbsp finely chopped garlic

100 ml stock or water

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Salt (optional)

2 tsp potato flour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water (I used corn starch)

¼ - 1/2 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper

---

Cut the tofu into 2cm cubes and leave to steep in very hot, lightly salted water while you prepare the other ingredients (do not allow the water to boil or the tofu will become porous and less tender). Slice the baby leeks or spring onion greens at a steep angle into thin ‘horse ears‘.

Heat a wok over a high flame. Pour in the cooking oil and swirl it around. Reduce the heat to medium, add the chilli bean paste and stir—fry until the oil is a rich red colour and smells delicious. Next add the black beans and ground chillies {if using) and stir-fry for a few seconds more until you can smell them too. Then do the same with the ginger and garlic. Take care not to overheat the seasonings; you want a thick, fragrant sauce and the secret of this is to let them sizzle gently, allowing the oil to coax out their flavours and aromas.

Remove the tofu from the hot water with a perforated spoon, shaking off excess water, and lay it gently in the wok. Push the tofu tenderly with the back of your ladle or wok scoop to mix it into the sauce without breaking up the cubes. Add the stock or water, the white pepper and salt to taste and mix gently, again using the back of of your scoop so you don't damage the tofu.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes to allow the tofu to absorb the flavours of the seasonings. Add the leek slices (if using) and nudge them into the sauce. When they are just tender, add a little of the flour—and—water mixture and stir gently as the liquid thickens. Repeat once or twice more, until the sauce clings to the seasonings and tofu (don't add more than you need). If you are using spring onions rather than leeks, add them now and nudge them gently into the sauce. Pour the tofu into a deep bowl. Sprinkle with the ground roasted Sichuan pepper and serve.

Pour the tofu into a deep bowl. Sprinkle with the ground roasted Sichuan pepper and serve.