Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
• 6 to 8 chicken legs and/or thighs, skinned
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes, with juice, pulsed in a food processor
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 small or 1/2 large cauliflower, cored, broken into florets, and sliced about 1/2 inch thick
• 12 kalamata olives (about 45 grams), rinsed, pitted and cut in half (optional)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 to 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep, heavy lidded skillet or casserole and brown the chicken, in batches if necessary, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the pieces to a plate or bowl as they’re browned. Pour off the fat from the pan. Add the vinegar to the pan and scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
2. Add the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil to the pan, and turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pan, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover and let the onion cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until it is lightly browned and very soft.
3. Add the garlic and stir together for a minute or two more, until the garlic is fragrant, then add the tomatoes and their juice, the cinnamon, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and simmer 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the mixture is reduced slightly and fragrant.
4. Return the chicken pieces to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. If necessary, add enough water to barely cover the chicken. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
5. Add the cauliflower and kalamata olives and simmer for another 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and the chicken is just about falling off the bone. Stir in the parsley, taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with grains, with the feta sprinkled on top if desired.

Tip

Advance preparation: The stew keeps for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator and freezes well. With leftovers, make a delicious rice casserole by spreading cooked rice over the bottom of a baking dish and topping with the chicken and sauce. Heat through for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

2016-10-09: I've been meaning to make this for a while. I used two packages of boneless, skinless thighs, which sort of doubled the recipe.

When I first added the chicken, I also added enough hot water to cover it. That may have been a mistake. The final product was sort of soupy.

I also cut the cauliflower too big. If I were to do this again, I would probably cut the cauliflower into the same size, but put it in the sauce with the chicken over the top. That way it would have cooked a bit better.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

2 boneless / skinless chicken breasts
1 cup white rice
1 can Cream of Celery soup
2 soup cans of water
1 pkt French onion packet soup mix
2 onions chopped roughly
salt and pepper to taste

In the oven for two hours at 320°.

Notes: the French onion soup Nicko used was a Continental French Onion cup of soup packet. We didn't have that at the store, so I bought Lipton Beefy Onion instead. Each packet is meant to be combined with 4 cups of water, so I'm hoping the tastes won't be too strong with the substitution.

Noreen's chicken paprikash?

Meat prep

• 8 chicken thighs with bone
• 3 chicken breasts with bone (6 half breasts)
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tbsp paprika (sweet, not hot)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp safflower oil (This is a hi-temp oil, so it won't burn.)

Sauce

• 2 medium onions, slice
• 1/4 cup of Hungarian paprika (sweet, not hot)
• 6 cups of chicken stock
• 4 cups of sour cream
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Method

1. Put 2 tbsp of safflower oil in a pan.
2. In a large ziplock bag put the dry ingredients from the meat prep sections. Dredge the chicken pieces.
   Put the chicken in the pan skin-side down. Do it in batches so that the chicken browns, not steams. The chicken will let you know when it is time to turn it because it will release from the pan. Turn. When brown, remove from the pan. If there is too much fat, pour the excess off.
3. Add the onion, halved and sliced, to the remaining fat. Cook till soft. Add paprika. Cook briefly, stirring to bring up fond.
4. Add the chicken back on top of the onions.
5. Add chicken stock. Simmer for one hour.
6. Remove the chicken to a plate. Turn the heat off from the broth.
7. Put the sour cream in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of flour. One ladle at a time, add the broth to the sour cream so that it doesn't clump. Do this for three ladles. The purpose is to raise the temp without causing clumping. Then add the sour cream to the broth. Mix well.
8. Add the chicken back into the broth and let it simmer while the noodles simmer. Once the nokedli are ready, serve with the chicken.

Notes

2016-03-06: I made this for the first time this weekend. Issues...

• I made it full size, which was ridiculous for my eating needs.
• Next, I made it in three stages. I did the browning one day, the main simmering the next, and the addition of the sour cream the third. Actually, I think it makes a lot of sense to do the browning a day ahead of time because it is labor and time intensive, whereas it would be reasonably easy to setup the rest of it.

Turned out great flavorwise. This really is Hungarian comfort food again. Works great with the nokedli. Definitely make a half recipe next time. And I would probably like it better using, say with 6-8 boneless thighs, no breasts, and halve the rest of the recipe. And definitely do major trimming of the skin, although really the skin helps the browning process and renders some great chicken fat.

At Fry's today I spotted some "longaniza" sausage. Wow, Spanish sausage in an Arizona store. I've had a Portuguese equivalent, linguiça, once before in a diner in northern California. Time to try it again. I pulled out my Dutch oven. Poured in some olive oil. Sliced some onions, put that all over somewhat high heat for a while. Then I took the two sausages, poked them with fork to prevent explosions, and threw them in the same pan. Occasionally I stired the onions. When the first side of the sausages seemed to be browning, I rotated them. After the second side seemed sort of brown, I threw in an undrained 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes. Then I let it all cook uncovered for a while, and then a while longer till it seemed done.

Result: very tasty.

Things I have learned from this attempt:

The cast-iron Dutch oven in which I cooked the dish hadn't been used for very many months, probably eight or nine months. The result was that the coating tasted... well... kinda old. Next time I will scrub it out with hot water and soap, yes — I know that is a sin for cast iron, and then reseason it before using it to cook. The hint? Let your nose judge the quality of the seasoning.

My friend Jim recommend this recipe from paleogrubs. I like pork, but I rarely try new pork recipes. Jim, however, is an excellent cook. If he recommends something, it will not suck. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 (4-ounce) boneless pork chops
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt, divided
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
• 2 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges
• 4 ounces sliced bacon, cut into bite size pieces

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Pound the chops lightly with a meat mallet. Sprinkle the chops with half of salt and half of black pepper.
3. In a large cast iron pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over high heat. Add the pork to pan and cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the pork from the pan.
4. In the pan add the remaining olive oil, apple and onion wedges and bacon. Sprinkle with thyme and remaining salt and black pepper and toss to coat. Put in the oven and bake for 25 minutes then arrange the pork chops over apples and onion and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper and serve with your favorite salad.

2016-02-07: I wanted to try this recipe, but when I went to the store I found pork chops that were unaccountably thick; three were almost two pounds. What the hell. Let's give it a try. I pounded them in ziploc bags with a small cast-iron frying pan that shedded rusty cast iron with every fifth whack. I browned them. Double checked their done-ness. Seemed okay. I decided to change their baking time in the oven to 15 minutes. Also forgot the thyme. I should mention that the bacon was butcher-cut apple-wood smoked bacon, not that skinny crap they sell in packages. I used Granny Smith apples, though I suspect that pippins would be better.

As the apples/onions/bacon were baking, I nearly swooned from the aroma. This probably will not suck.

Results

This recipe is definitely a repeater. The pork was tender and good. The apples tasty. The onions were okay, but I suspect they would have been better if I had used Vidalia sweets instead of standard yellow onions.

Next time around I might consider shredding the apples and onions instead of just cutting into wedges. That might make them a nicer topping, instead of a side, to the chops.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 cups prepared marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 (5 ounce) package garlic croutons

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Coat the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish with olive oil, and sprinkle with garlic and hot red pepper flakes.
3. Arrange the chicken breasts in bottom of the dish, and pour marinara sauce over chicken. Sprinkle basil over marinara sauce, and top with half the mozzarella cheese, followed by half the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle on the croutons, then top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven until cheese and croutons are golden brown and the chicken is no longer pink inside, about 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the shape and thickness of your chicken breasts. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chicken breast should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

2015-12-31: I used a smaller baking dish and chicken thighs instead of breasts. Skipped the croutons since I'm avoiding carbs. I used traditional Prego for the sauce.

Turned out pretty good. Reheated well. Before I make it again, though, I should double check the carb count on the sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 4 oz cream cheese, divided into eight chunks
• 3 tbsp Grey Poupon
• 2 medium-size onions, chopped
• water, enough to poach the chicken
• olive oil, enough to saute onions

Method

1. Fill a frying pan with enough water to poach the chicken. Turn chicken part way through the poaching if you like.
2. In a separate frying pan begin saute the onions until translucent.
3. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove to a cutting board and cut into bite-sized pieces.
4. Remove all but about a cup or two of the poaching water from the chicken pan. (Save the extra for some other recipe.) Add cream cheese to pan and heat over medium heat until it begins to melt into water. Mix in the mustard. Whisk till smooth. Add the onions, bring to a simmer.
5. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer it in the sauce until the sauce has become as thick as you like.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups full-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground turmeric
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 pounds chicken thighs, on the bone
• ¼ pound unsalted butter
• 4 teaspoons neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil
• 2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely diced
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 medium-size tomatoes, diced
• 2 red chiles, like Anaheim, or 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
• Kosher salt to taste
• ⅔ cup chicken stock, low-sodium or homemade
• 1 ½ cups cream
• 1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons ground almonds, or finely chopped almonds

Method

1. Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala and cumin in a large bowl. Put the chicken in, and coat with the marinade. Cover, and refrigerate (for up to a day).
2. In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter in the oil until it starts to foam. Add the onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds, and cook until the onions start to brown.
3. Add the cinnamon stick, tomatoes, chiles and salt, and cook until the chiles are soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the chicken and marinade to the pan, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for approximately 30 minutes.

5. Stir in the cream and tomato paste, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Add the almonds, cook for an additional 5 minutes and remove from the heat.

Ingredients

• 3 -4 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1 lb pork sausage
• 1 stalk celery, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon onion, chopped
• 1⁄2 lb mushroom, sliced
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 16 ounces frozen cauliflower, cooked well and drained
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• paprika (optional)

Method

1. Brown the sausage with the celery, onion and mushrooms.
2. Stir the softened cream cheese into the sausage mixture until well blended.
3. Coarsely chop the cooked cauliflower.
4. Mix all ingredients and spread in a greased 9"x13" baking dish.
5. If desired, dust the top with paprika.
6. Bake, covered with foil, at 350º for about 30 minutes.
7. Uncover and bake until hot and bubbly and top is lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Attempt 1

This first try came out sub-mediocre. Instead of 4 cups of diced chicken I used two pounds of ground chicken. I didnt' have any foil, so I just cooked it for 35 minutes. My largest casserole dish is not quite 9x13, so I used it plus another dish. Next time I might want to try this version of the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 red peppers, sliced
• Oil for frying
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 chicken breasts, i.e., two full chicken breats
• a clove of garlic, minced
• 1 10-oz can of red enchilada sauce
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 8 oz of cheddar cheese, shredded

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Put onions and peppers in frying pan with a bit of oil. Add a bit of salt and pepper and start softening them over medium heat.
3. If the chicken breasts aren't all that big, then flatten them in plastic so that it doesn't spatter. You can flatten them by whacking them with a manly cast-iron frying pan or using the womanly approaching with a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer (mallet). If the chicken breasts are thick, slice them in half again flatwise before pounding. Fry them in oil till they are mostly cooked through. As the chicken gets cooked, transfer to a plate for storage.
4. Throw in the garlic, enchilada sauce, cream cheese and half of the cheddar.
5. Once all the cheese is melted, briefly dip each piece of chicken in the sauce and then transfer the chicken to casserole dish. Add the onions and peppers to cover the chicken.
6. Put sauce on top.
7. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
8. Put in oven for 15-20 minutes till the cheese starts getting brown and delicious on top.

Results

Tasty. Definitely a repeater.

2015-10-24: Variation. I had a bunch of left over pork tenderloin in the freezer that I wanted to use. Instead of red enchilada sauce, I had about 10 oz of left overs of a can of green Macayo's enchilada sauce. So I sauteed the onions and peppers. Mixed the sauce and cream cheese and half the cheddar. Put enough of that on the bottom of the casserole dish to cover it. Added the pork. Covered it with the onions and peppers. Added the remaining half of the cheddar. Popped it in the oven.

This turned out adequately. The pork doesn't combine as well with enchilada sauce as chicken does. Not bad, but no need to repeat.

2015-11-12: I did a beef variation using 2 pounds of hamburger and a 28 oz can of of Las Palmas enchilada sauce. 1/2 tsp black pepper.

This was entirely adequate. I would repeat it for myself, and repeat it for non-picky family.

This made more than my large casserole pan could handle, so I had to also use another half size casserole dish. Next time I would use 1 lb of hamburger and 14 oz of enchilada sauce.

I should try a variation with La Victoria enchilada sauce and Monterey Jack cheese.