Once again: Chicken & Paprika

I’ve put them together again, chicken and paprika. I think I’ve found a slightly better combination though. Chicken, paprika and chorizo; this trumps the first recipe I worked on. After making this about three times for different crowds, I’m convinced this is a winner. Maybe chorizo will be my new bacon, smoky and paprika included!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 chorizo, sliced into 2-cm thick coins
8 chicken thighs
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 rounded tablespoon paprika
90 ml shao hsing wine
6 sprigs of thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan or Dutch oven and brown chorizo and set aside.
2. Using the same pan, brown the chicken pieces until the skin is golden brown. Remove and set aside. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of oil and discard excess.
3. Sweat onions and garlic in the pan for about 3 minutes and then add the paprika and tomatoes and fry for another minute.
4. Add shao hsing wine and deglaze, scrapping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
5. Add chorizo, chicken and thyme into the pan. Add water until it comes up to the halfway point of the chicken. Bring to a boil and then braise for 90 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Paprika

I’ve recently fallen in love with paprika. I find myself unconsciously sprinkling it in more and more of my cooking – stews, whilst sautéing mushrooms, on potatoes, on chickpeas, on everything really.

Here’s one instance: I had an open bottle of Chardonnay, a chicken and a task to cook dinner. So whilst sweating down my onions, carrots, garlic and celery again I found myself reaching for the tin of paprika and sprinkling it as if it was my magic dust into the cast iron pot. It is great. Paprika rocks my world – maybe it is a cooking magic dust.

Paprika Chicken Stew
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 onions, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 rounded teaspoon paprika
750 ml bottle of Chardonnay
3-4 rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy based pan and brown the chicken pieces until the skin is golden brown. Remove and set aside. Discard excess oil.
2. Heat remaining olive oil in a heavy based pan or a dutch oven and add carrots, onions, celery, garlic and paprika then slowly sweat vegetables until soft, about 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the whole bottle of wine, deglazing and scrapping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
4. Return the chicken to the pan. Add rosemary and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

* Optional, you can further thicken or enrich the stew with cream and serve over rice, potatoes or noodles.