Chicken Paprika

– by Williams-Sonoma - Essentials of Slow Cooking cookbook

INGREDIENTS:

·       8 chicken thighs, trimmed of excess skin and fat

·                   Salt and freshly ground pepper

·             2 tbsp. unsalted butter

·             2 tbsp. canola oil

·             2 yellow onions, finely chopped

·             1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

·             ½ cup chicken broth

·            2 tbsp. sweet paprika

·            2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

·            ½ cup sour cream

·            12 oz.  Egg Noodles

INSTRUCTIONS:

Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper.   

In a frying pan over med-high heat, melt the butter with the canola oil.  Working in batches if necessary, add the chicken and cook, turning frequently, until browned, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Pour off all but 1 tbsp. of the fat in the pan.  Add the onions and bell pepper and sauté over med-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes.   

Stir in the broth, paprika, and tomatoes and deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

Transfer the chicken to a Dutch oven and add the tomato mixture.  Cover and cook over medium heat until the chicken is tender and opaque throughout, about 45 minutes. 

Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm.  

Bring the cooking liquid to a boil over high heat and cook, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat, stir in the sour cream, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the chicken is simmering, cook the noodles according to package directions.  After the noodles are drained, gently stir in 3 tbsps. of butter while the noodles are still hot.

Serve chicken on a bed of noodles and top with sauce.

Fresh ingredients are the key for deliciousness in any recipe.  There's just something about adding fresh vegetables and watching them soak up all the flavors of the spices, seasonings and broth.  The only ingredient I had to improvise with was the paprika.  I'm not sure if I had "sweet" paprika (I don't think I did) so I added 1/2 tsp. of fine granulated sugar just to make sure.  Hubby loved the flavor but I think it could've had a little more of the paprika flavor which is probably why I need to work harder in looking for "sweet paprika".  This was a pretty quick and easy meal.  The neat thing I like about Elise's, Williams-Sonoma "Essentials of Slow Cooking" cookbook is that it not only offers suggestions in cooking all the recipes in a slow cooker but also on the stove-top, which is what I chose.  I'm on vacation, I had fun whipping up this recipe and filling up the house with all these lovely aromas, I took my time and the end result was exactly what I had hoped for, a smile on my hubby's face and a full and satisfied tummy.  ~isavortheweekend