Chicken Paprika

by Mrs Marvel

If you like paprika but don’t like bell peppers, well think again. Paprika is derived from the grinding of dried bell peppers. Paprika is widely available and the main producer is Hungary, which is why it is often associated with Hungarian cooking, such as goulash, but it’s used all over the world in various dishes. Paprika releases its color and flavor when heated, so the paprika on top of deviled eggs will not be as rich or spicy tasting as the paprika in this dish.

A word to the wise. An old Hungarian saying is that good paprika burns twice when you eat it.

This would be very good with a rice pilaf or served over plain noodles.

Chicken Paprika (4 servings)

1 broiling chicken – cut up

1/2 c flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp paprika

1 clove garlic, minced

3 medium onions, sliced thin

1/2 c dairy sour cream

Toss chicken pieces in paper bag with flour, salt, pepper & 1 tsp paprika. Cook garlic and onion slices in hot fat in skillet until light brown. Add chicken & brown on all sides. Cover skillet & cook over low heat until tender, about 40 minutes. Remove chicken to warm platter. Heat sour cream in skillet. Add remainder of paprika & more salt if desired. Pour sour cream gravy over chicken and serve.

Chicken Enchentee’ (Mary)

by Mrs Marvel

Pleased to meet you, Poulet, the pleasure is all mine, I’m sure. Please, rest here on this warm plate while I cover you with some beans and other vegetables. What’s that you say? Oh yes, here’s a drink of orange juice for your health. We’ll just keep you warm for a bit, right over here…

If you are wondering about that previous paragraph, just remember that enchente’ in French means to be charming. I can only assume that this recipe is from my Aunt Mary.

Chicken Enchentee’ (Mary)

2# chicken pieces

1/2 c flour

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Toss in a bag

1/4 c butter – use to fry chicken in large skillet

Remove chicken. Put in

1 c sliced mushrooms

1 c cubed cooked ham

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/4 c orange juice

Add, return chicken to skillet

Cover, simmer 30 min. Baste. Cook 1 pkg green beans. Remove chicken & add beans to mixture in skillet. Mix & pour over chicken. Put 1/4 c orange juice into skillet. When hot add 1/2 c sour cream. Stir well. Pour over all & serve.

Our most popular recipe is…

by Mrs Marvel

The stats that WordPress offer are really good and I can see which posts get a lot of traffic, which get none, what search terms bring people here (thank you for visiting!!) etc. One of my favorite ones to look at is the most popular posts. The home page of course gets the most hits, so I ignore it for the most part. By far, the most popular recipe on Gram’s Recipe Box is….icicle pickles!

Before I went through the recipe box, I had never heard of icicle pickles. Remember, these are the pickles that take 12 days to make and Gram or Mernie made a note that they look awful at various stages of the process. Perhaps because of the popularity of icicle pickles, I’ll have to try making them after all.

Short Ribs!

by Mrs Marvel

This weekend was quite a busy one for us! My friends and I participated in the Old Fort MacArthur Days at Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro, CA. This is an annual military timeline event, featuring numerous time periods, all represented by reenactors dedicated to the art and science of our history. I knew this would be a very busy weekend, so on Friday evening, my lovely assistant and I put beef short ribs in to marinade. I wanted to make the Chili Baked Short Ribs, but unfortunately discovered I don’t have any chili powder. I improvised and used minced garlic instead.

Ever the improviser, when I realized that I had tomato paste and the recipe called for tomato juice, I thinned out some of the paste with water. We then combined the rest of the ingredients and Melody stirred it to mix it well. Finally, we put in the ribs and made sure they were covered with the marinade.

Once the marinade was finished, I covered the dish and put it in the refrigerator for an overnight soaking. At 4 the next day, I called my husband and gave him the temperature for the oven.  When I got home around 6, Melody announced that “Daddy made us dinner!”  The ribs were tender and flavorful, but not overpowered by the marinade. The ribs I happened to get were a bit fatty, so there was a lot of liquified fat in the pan, that if drained off would have left behind a nice sauce. Among four of us, we ate 9 ribs and I sent three home with my sister. I’d say this recipe test was an unqualified success!

Upside Down Prune Cake – Made

by Mrs Marvel

I posted the recipe for Upside Down Prune Cake and at the time speculated if this could be done in a Dutch oven. Well, over this past weekend, I was at a history timeline event camped next to a friend who is quite proficient with Dutch oven cooking. She indulged me, and we decided to try it!

First, fresh prunes are not available until August, and at that, difficult to find. I used jarred prunes from Sunsweet, and pitted them. We melted the butter over the fire in a copper pot, then placed that at the bottom of a ceramic pie plate. Next we layered the ingredients as the recipe instructed.

Once there was a good fire under the oven and it was well heated, a trivet was placed in the bottom of the oven and the cake on the trivet. The trivet allowed for air circulation under the pie plate. We replaced the oven lid and left it alone for 20 minutes or so. I checked it and rotated the plate 180 degrees to even out the cooking.

Since there is no thermostat on a fire, we didn’t know how long this would need to cook. At 25 minutes, it was not cooked through. 20 minutes later, it was a bit scorched on the edges and we were not able to turn it out on a plate.

The cake itself was not terribly sweet. Had the glaze not overcooked, once turned out it would have been a nice top to a moist cake. We did not serve it with whipped cream because we had no electricity with which to whip.

The camp kitchen serves lunch family style, with all kinds of pickles and fruits in jars down the center of the table, and desserts on a buffet of sorts off to the side. I can happily say that friends and family alike tried the cake, although I can’t guarantee they liked it. My sister took some pictures that I will try to get hold of and post at a later date.