Sunday, April 4, 2010

Paprika Chicken and Oven Rice

We had friends over for dinner this weekend, and I prepared two of our old standbys, recipes I've been making since 1998 when I first read them in the New York Times Magazine: paprika chicken and oven rice.

In those days, there was much less food writing in the Times. The recipe at the back of the magazine was the paper's culinary cat's meow.

Today, the magazine recipes are often impossibly eccentric, requiring unusual, esoteric equipment and ingredients (12 spice powder and a milk press? What the heck are those?). For practical cooking, the Wednesday food section is the star.

Back to the recipes. Both are easy and perfect for guests because the prep is done long before they arrive. so you can socialize while dinner cooks. In spite of the relatively large amount paprika ( a tablespoon), this dish is not spicy. I'm not sure why, but suspect that the sour cream absorbs much of the heat.

A couple of notes on the chicken rice. Olive oil works just as well as butter. And I find three cups of chicken stock overpowers the rice, as well as turning it an unappetizing nut brown. I use two cups of stock and a cup of water.

A wonderful dish, especially on a cold winter's night, that we never tire of. It also makes for great leftovers.

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