Quick Chicken Paprikas and Nokedli

February 10, 2013: I have updated this post with clearer instructions for the Nokedli as well as a photo of the loose dough.

Adapted from my mother’s recipe

Check out my recipe on Foodista

• 1 kg chicken breasts, no skin, no bones
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 large Vidalia onion about 1 cup (Mayan onion will work too), finely chopped
• 2 tbsp paprika paste (or home made roasted red peppers, skins removed) or 1 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika powder
• 1 green cubano pepper, thinly sliced (not hot peppers)
• 1 medium chopped tomato (or 1/4 cup tomato paste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp flour
• 1/2 cup sour cream (no fat) or no fat yogurt + couple of tbsp for garnish
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (low sodium)

Instructions

1. Cook onions in 1 tsp olive oil until soft, add chicken stock (the onions will help thicken the sauce). Add chopped tomato and cook 2 minutes longer.
2. Remove from heat and add paprika.
3. Using an immersion blender or regular blender, blend the onion mixture until smooth.
4. Strain through a fine sieve (this will help discard the tomato skins and seeds which would ruin the creamy texture of the sauce). Reserve.
5. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in 1 tsp olive oil.
6. When the chicken is almost done, add the sauce back to the pan, and simmer until the chicken is entirely cooked.
7. Just before serving, add the thinly sliced green peppers (I like them a bit crunchy as garnish)
8. Add 1 tsp flour to the sour cream or plain yogurt and stir well. Stir the sour cream into the sauce and heat through (do not boil).
9. Dollop fresh sour cream or plain yogurt just before serving.

Serve with noodles or nokedli (dumplings).

Nokedli (dumplings)
I usually eyeball this. General rule is 1 egg, 1/2 cup flour + bit of water
per person.

I use 1 whole egg per lot, then the remainder I use the egg whites only (this makes it a bit healthier and the 1 egg yolk adds a bit of colour).

To make 4 servings:

• 1 egg
• 9 tbsp egg whites
• 2 cups flour
• water to soften dough as needed
• 3-4 L water for boiling
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter + 1 tsp olive oil

The dough should be loose enough to press through the Nokedli maker without much effort, but it should not be wet.

Directions:

1. In a large pot, bring 3-4 L water and olive oil to a boil (you need a large pot because the dumplings will sink and then rise to the top when done). Don’t salt the water because it will make the dumplings too soft – don’t know if that is true, but I have never done it to try!
2. In a food processor, blend eggs, flour and add water to make a dough resembling loose bread or pasta dough, and it should be able to be pressed through a dumpling maker easily.
3. Using the dumpling maker, press batter through, stir dumplings occasionally so they don?t stick together. I generally make the entire batter, stirring occasionally – no need to remove the done ones!
4. Strain well. You can lightly coat in olive oil and let stand until required.
5. In an enamel Dutch oven, melt butter with olive oil. Heat to high.
6. Add dumplings and stir well. You will want the dumplings to become crispy and brown…they are really tasty that way.
7. Salt and Pepper to taste.
8. Serve with Chicken Paprikas on top.

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Quick Chicken Paprikas and Nokedli

Adapted from my mother’s recipe

Check out my recipe on Foodista

• 1 kg chicken breasts, no skin, no bones
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 large Vidalia onion about 1 cup (Mayan onion will work too), finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp paprika paste (or home made roasted red peppers, skins removed)
• 1 green cubano pepper, thinly sliced (not hot peppers)
• 1 medium chopped tomato (or 1/4 cup tomato paste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp flour
• 1/2 cup sour cream (no fat) or no fat yogurt + couple of tbsp for garnish
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (low sodium)

Instructions

1. Cook onions in 1 tsp olive oil until soft, add chicken stock (the onions will help thicken the sauce). Add chopped tomato and cook 2 minutes longer.
2. Remove from heat and add paprika.
3. Using an immersion blender or regular blender, blend the onion mixture until smooth.
4. Strain through a fine sieve (this will help discard the tomato skins and seeds which would ruin the creamy texture of the sauce). Reserve.
5. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in 1 tsp olive oil.
6. When the chicken is almost done, add the sauce back to the pan, and simmer until the chicken is entirely cooked.
7. Just before serving, add the thinly sliced green peppers (I like them a bit crunchy as garnish)
8. Add 1 tsp flour to the sour cream or plain yogurt and stir well. Stir the sour cream into the sauce and heat through (do not boil).
9. Dollop fresh sour cream or plain yogurt just before serving.

Serve with noodles or nokedli (dumplings).

Nokedli (dumplings)
I usually eyeball this. General rule is 1 egg, 1/2 cup flour + bit of water
per person.

I use 1 whole egg per lot, then the remainder I use the egg whites only (this makes it a bit healthier and the 1 egg yolk adds a bit of colour).

To make 4 servings:

• 1 egg
• 9 tbsp egg whites
• 2 cups flour
• water to soften dough as needed
• 3-4 L water for boiling
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter + 1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

1. In a large pot, bring 3-4 L water and olive oil to a boil (you need a large pot because the dumplings will sink and then rise to the top when done). Don’t salt the water because it will make the dumplings too soft – don’t know if that is true, but I have never done it to try!
2. In a food processor, blend eggs, flour and add water to make a dough a bit thicker than pancake batter ? it should be able to be pressed through a dumpling maker easily.
3. Using the dumpling maker, press batter through, stir dumplings occasionally so they don?t stick together. I generally make the entire batter, stirring occasionally – no need to remove the done ones!
4. Strain well. You can lightly coat in olive oil and let stand until required.
5. In an enamel Dutch oven, melt butter with olive oil. Heat to high.
6. Add dumplings and stir well. You will want the dumplings to become crispy and brown…they are really tasty that way.
7. Salt and Pepper to taste.
8. Serve with Chicken Paprikas on top.

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Ok, I lied, THIS is the best EVER no knead bread recipe

No Knead Bread Revisited (video)

JT has really taken this on as his own, and I haven’t made bread since he did. I have to admit, I am a bit jealous since I am the one who loves to do this stuff…but he seems to really enjoy it, and he is great at it. Go JT go!

We got into the loaf before I remembered to take some shots…well, they are better than nothing. And by the way, the bread was DELICIOUS!

Adapted from New York Times, which was adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 2 to 4 hours’ rising, 45 minutes baking

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
• ¼ cup ground flax seed
• ¼ tsp instant yeast
• ¼ tsp red wine vinegar
• 1¼ tsp salt
• 1 5/8 ‘warm’ water
• Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, flax seed, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water and wine vinegar, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 2-4 hours, preferably about 4, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles (dough will be quite gooey). Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450F.
5. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot with lid (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic – we always have the lid beside it so the heat goes into the pan faster) in oven as it heats.
6. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 35 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 10 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

We got pounded with snow again last night…about 15cm! This morning I was looking forward to shoveling (yep, you read that correctly!) but we watched a movie (88 minutes with Al Pacino 6/10) and by the time we went out, our lovely neighbour Frank did it all for us! Thanks Frank.

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