a peek inside the fishbowl

25 Feb, 2012

Will they eat it: Chicken Paprikash (but first…)

Posted by andrea tomkins in: Recipes and Food

Many moons ago I was interviewed for an article in Best Health magazine. In fact, it was so long ago that I plum forgot about it. So you can imagine my surprise when I got a tiny peek at the spread. I haven’t seen the whole issue yet, but I was thrilled to be pictured alongside blogging superstars such as Aimee Wimbush-Bourque of Simple Bites, Heather Greenwood Davis of Globetrotting Mama (who I went to school with!), and Elan Morgan of Schmutzie (who is also the powerhouse behind the much-esteemed Canadian Weblog Awards). So cool.

ETA: I finally picked up a copy. :)

Best Health Magazine

And in OTHER good news…

I’m pretty excited about my new gig. I am not sure if I mentioned it here or not, but I’m the site editor and content manager for a soon-to-be-launched website called Recipes.ca. I’ve taken the reigns of the Facebook Page too, so please join me there! We will be the gateway to some great recipes and food news. If you love food – good food! – as much as I do I promise you will love it. One of the things I’m thinking of doing is transplanting the “Will They Eat It” series-that-isn’t-really-a-series from the Fishbowl and giving it a new home in my spot in the Editors blog at Recipes.ca. What do you think? Do you read it here? Will you read it over there? I’m trying to gauge interest so your feedback would be most helpful. Thank you! Anyway, on to the recipe!

I decided to make Chicken Paprikash, or as my Czech people call it, kure na paprice.

My mom used to make this dish all the time, in fact, it was one of my favourites growing up. Czech cuisine is heavy on meat and starches – ALL YEAR ROUND. This is what I grew up with. Much of it doesn’t hold a lot of appeal for me anymore (sorry mom), but this is an exception. (Oh, and pork schnitzel. And potato pancakes.)

I found a a recipe over at Canadian Living, but as I was making it I realized it did not taste anything like the stuff my mom used to make. It was too tangy and I was slightly alarmed, but it wasn’t until I added a whole bunch of sour cream to the sauce that I realized that this was the reason why. Do not skimp on the sour cream!

Overall the recipe was pretty good. There was a little something missing but I’m still not quite sure what it is. Also, it used an awful lot of mushrooms and onions, and I don’t think my mother ever put those in the sauce.

She used to serve it with dumplings but I served it over broad egg noodles.

Next time I might use a bit less tomato paste than the recipe called for, and more sour cream. I think cooking the chicken in the sauce for a bit longer might be good too.

I will say this, it made for a pretty darn good lunch the next day. MMMm, SAUCY:

Chicken Paprikash

But the question remains, did they eat it?

I need to be honest here. Mark didn’t like it very much, and Sarah was so-so about it. But surprise surprise, Emma LOVED it. Maybe I’ll even make it again… just for Emma and I.


6 Responses to "Will they eat it: Chicken Paprikash (but first…)"

1 | Alison

February 25th, 2012 at 10:34 am

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We had “Papa’s rule” at our house which was you had to try everything once and if you didn’t like it, you never had to try it again. Except my kids were growing so fast they didn’t recognize it from one month to the next. Eventually they both grew to to love the intrigue of new dishes and slow food. That works for me since I love to cook and eat. It would have killed me to have kids that would only eat pizza.

2 | Luciana

February 25th, 2012 at 11:01 am

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Well, the paprikash I know – old school Hungarian recipe though- was made by a good friend of mine. Not with noodles but with home made dumplings. It was also cooked in lard (you can use goose /hen if you don’t want pork lard). She said at that time that the secret lies in the best quality paprika as well as in the fat fried onions. No tomato sauce at all. :)

3 | Valerie

February 25th, 2012 at 12:31 pm

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It looks similar to the beef stroganoff that we make and love, either with ground beef or sliced. But lots of onions, mushrooms, and, of course, sour cream! :)

I think “will they eat it” would be a great thing to take to your new site. Congratulations!

4 | wendy

February 26th, 2012 at 12:24 am

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Mmmmmmmmm to apple pancakes!

I looked after a Hungarian woman who made me apple pancakes!

So yummy. Congratulations Andrea!

The chicken dish looks delish, and I agree on the Paprika, as told to me by “The Hungarian women:-)

5 | Hilary

February 26th, 2012 at 6:15 am

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Psst… smoked paprika! I almost always replace sweet or hot paprika with the smoked kind, and it totally kicks things up a notch and brings an extra depth of flavour.

Ah, I can totally see the Czech heritage now – I’ve always thought you have the most beautiful Slavic look!

6 | Kathleen

February 26th, 2012 at 12:11 pm

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Congrats on the new job! I love this feature and will read it wherever you put it.

I think you should make this dish again just for you and Emma. It’s fun to share a favourite dish.

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The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

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