Wednesday, February 11, 2009

My version of Chicken Paprika

This is NOT diet food in any way shape or form. But it's very comforting and tasty, and Ethan was a very enthusiastic eater last night. I served him up, set to the task of coaxing the baby into eating something and when I turned around a couple minutes later, his plate was licked clean including the broccoli! It comes together quickly, under 30 minutes, which is a definite bonus.
First, thaw a couple of large chicken breasts. Then butterfly them, and cut each piece in half or thirds depending on the size of them. You could pound them to achieve this same effect, but that's messy and takes time that I didn't have yesterday.


Next, mix up the flour mixture to dredge them in while you heat up 3-4 T. olive oil in a large skillet. This is a good time to start up your pasta water too. I used 2/3 cup flour, several grinds of pepper and salt, 1 t. garlic powder, and then added a dash of smoked paprika after I took the picture. Stir it up on the plate you'll be using to dredge (the fewer the dishes the better), and roll each piece of chicken through it until evenly coated.

Throw as many egg noodles as your family will eat into the pasta pot, then fry the chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side until it's golden brown and crispy and cooked through. Remove to a plate.
Melt 2 T. butter in the same skillet, and add 10 sliced mushrooms. Saute until just beginning to soften, then sprinkle 1 T. smoked paprika (regular is ok too, I just like the flavor of smoked) over the mushrooms.
Pour in 3/4 cup cream, then add the chicken pieces back in and give everything a good (but gentle) stir. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce is slightly thickened and takes on the lovely orange hue that you see in the finished product picture at the top. Serve immediately over a bed of hot noodles. If you really want to crash you diet, butter the noodles first. This serves 3-4 adults, or in our case, 2 adults, 2 kids and a little leftover for Alan to take for lunch.
Broccoli is a great side for this. I followed the path of least resistence and simply dumped the florets into the pasta pot for the last 4 or 5 minutes of cook time, then sprinkled a little salt on them. Voila! Dinner is served!

4 comments:

Sharee Gariety said...

Nurse Heidi,
I am friends with your sister-in-law (I think) Merideth, who told me about this blog and I just have to confess that I am a major fan of yours. All the recipes I've tried of yours have been amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Sharee

Nurse Heidi said...

Thanks for commenting, Sharee! I love to hear what has been successful for other people. You may have noticed that this is a group blog - there are a bunch of other contributors as well, so I can't take all the credit.

My goal is to post a recipe a week this year, so hold me to it would you?

Meri said...

How fun that I just happened to need to comment on this one and I see Sharee is connecting with you. Sharee rocks! She's Sam's favorite music teacher. My friend Sue has also become a big fan of yours, Heidi.

We made this last night and everyone who was willing to try it loved it. Once I talked Paul into giving the mushrooms a try, he even ate it. Thanks!

I doubled it for our family and we had a little leftover for Ben's lunch. We have massive eaters at our house, me included. I didn't have any cream so I substituted evaporated milk and yogurt. I liked the tang of the yogurt, but the whole thing needed more liquid so I'd probably double the liquids next time. I think cream would have been better too, of course. And we had fresh asparagus with it. Mmmmmm!

If I tell the kids it's one of your recipes, they'll usually give it a try. And Joe looks at me with adoring eyes because he knows it's going to be good. Keep spreading those talents, sis!

Nurse Heidi said...

"If I tell the kids it's one of your recipes, they'll usually give it a try"....now, if only my OWN kids had that kind of faith ;). Thanks, Merideth.