Kicked-Up Paprikash

Let's be honest here--I cook not only to feed myself, but because I love hearing the compliments of my friends and family when I cook for them (humility be darned). My number-one customer, of course, is my husband--so when he demands that I post a recipe to the blog because he loves it so much, I listen.

Paprikash, while a visually striking dish, is not exactly the most photogenic. The color of the sauce--bright red-orange--is pretty one-note, and the yogurt in the sauce adds a sheen that doesn't show well on camera. The buttered caraway noodles look oddly plain, and the chunks of tender meat are hidden by that five-alarm sauce. But the flavor--kicked up by at LEAST a quarter-cup of Hungarian spicy paprika (I had to journey all the way to Budapest to buy big bags of it, but you can certainly find large portion-sizes at gourmet food stores), red bell pepper, and plain greek yogurt--is unique and soul-satisfying in the way only stews with noodles can be. If you're a ghoulash-lover, or a fan of rich beef stews chock-full of root veggies, this one's for you.


My doctor-ed up recipe includes much more paprika, and I swapped out chicken for pork in this version, since I was in a traditionalist mood. So traditionalist, even, that we had this with a bottle of that classic Hungarian wine, Egri Bikaver. Like most stews, Paprikash tastes even better on the days after which it's made, so save some for a ridiculously satisfying midday meal.

Serve the paprikash with buttered caraway noodles: simply toss al-dente cooked egg noodles with a couple tablespoons of salted butter and a generous sprinkling of caraway seeds. If you don't have salted butter, use unsalted and add salt to taste.

Pork Paprikash
Adapted--quite freely--from Cooking Light

1 tbsp oil
1-2 lbs pork (use a style good for stewing, like pork shoulder or boneless country-style ribs) or chicken tenders, cut into chunks
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
minced garlic, to taste (I also threw in several cloves of smashed garlic--not very traditional, though)
1/4-1/2 cup whipping cream, 2% fat plain greek yogurt, or sour cream, depending on how you're feeling
4 tbsp (if you're a newbie) to 1/2 cup Hungarian spicy paprika
1 tbsp tomato paste (get the kind in a tube, next to the pasta at the grocery)
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp black pepper

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pork or chicken; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan, and keep warm.

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Return meat to pan. Stir in your choice of dairy and remaining ingredients; cover and simmer minutes or until meat is done and sauce is slightly thick. If you are using pork, you may wish to simmer the sauce for 20-30 minutes more to get a more tender texture.

Caramel Saturday

Today was my first sleepy Saturday in months. This summer has been incredibly hectic--that whole getting married thing, and then 2 months of constant essay-writing for business school...


But--thank goodness--I've got three essays left and more than a month to write them--which just in itself was reason enough to treat ourselves on this cloudy, humid, drizzly August DC morning. And nothing screams "decadent" to me like a meal composed entirely out of caramelized breakfast treats...


In the usual Kari style, I forgot to check whether the camera battery was charged until after the puffed pancake you see was already out of the oven (and de-puffing itself quite quickly), so I'll have to content myself with these partially-eaten photos...


I'm pretty sure this isn't one of Chris's favorite breakfasts in the world, but it certainly is mine. A custardy, caramelized, cinnamon-and-clove scented puffed Dutch apple pancake, made with a simple caramel glaze that comes together in seconds on the stovetop and results in a two-layer treat: the first crispy, buttery, and eggy; the lower layer soaked in a heady brown-sugar sauce that clings stubbornly to even the best of nonstick pans...


And the bacon, crusted in dark brown sugar, cayenne, and cinnamon, tossed easily into a hot oven until the glaze bubbles and covers every portion of the cured meat's surface, turning the humble breakfast meat into something resembling a savory lolly...

And best yet, this breakfast is the kind made for puttering about while enjoying a cup of steaming french press and listening to the rumbles of thunder outside. These aren't fussy dishes that require precise measurement or constant attention to the stove, which is great for cooks like me who don't wake up fully until they've eaten something substantial. You *could* make this dish healthier by cutting down on the butter, or substituting Egg Beaters, or using center-cut bacon instead of the good, thick-cut stuff...

But what would be the fun in that?

Puffed Apple Pancake--serves 4-6, unless you are Chris and Kari in which case it serves 2, generously
Adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook

2 Jazz apples (or McIntosh or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or OJ in a pinch
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar (just eyeball it)
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (eyeball)
1/8 tsp ground cloves (eyeball)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 whole milk (or, if you're like me, mix together some nonfat milk and half-and-half)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (no need to weigh it)
Scant 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Optional garnish: confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 425
Toss apples with lemon juice (or OJ), brown sugar, 3 tbsp granulated sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a bowl.
Heat 1.5 tbsp butter in an ovenproof nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Add apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer apples and any liquid to the bowl you originally used for the apple-soaking.
Heat the cleaned skillet in the oven for 5 minutes. Combine milk, eggs, flour, remaining 1 tbsp granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk/blend until smooth (Gourmet says to use a blender--but seriously?!)
Remove skillet from oven. Melt remaining 1.5 tbsp butter in a skillet over moderately high heat, then pour batter into skillet. Spoon apple mixture evenly over top. Bake pancake until puffed and golden, about 17 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired (I don't think it's necessary).

Caramelized Bacon--if using center cut, count on 4 slices per person; 3 slices for thick-cut
Bacon
Dark Brown Sugar (or Light Brown, if you must)
Cinnamon
Cayenne
Freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to somewhere between 425 and 450 (you'll just have to watch the bacon more closely at 450). Lay the bacon slices on a foiled cookie sheet, and dust heavily with the sugar, then sprinkle with cinnamon, cayenne, and black pepper to taste. Turn the bacon slices over, and repeat. Slide the cookie sheet into the oven, cook for 5-7 minutes, and then turn over and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving so that the brown sugar can harden into a nice, chewy, caramel coating.

Chris's Favorite Pasta #9

Chris and I first had this pasta at our friend Peter's dinner party (along with an incredible beef tenderloin, German chocolate cake, and multiple other delicacies!), and it's quickly entered our regular weekly rotation. The recipe, Scallop Sauce with Olive Oil, Garlic, and Hot Pepper from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, is a quick and remarkably delicious dish. Chris doesn't like scallops much, so we substituted frozen shrimp (try the Medium Contessa variety, uncooked, peeled, and deveined), with excellent results. Per usual, we quadrupled the amount of garlic in the dish and ramped up the spice factor. If you love parmesan, garlic, spice, and seafood, this is a pasta dish you definitely need to try!

I would recommend a chilled California or Australian chardonnay with this dish, unoaked if possible. Sauvignon Blanc would be another great option, as would my great Austrian favorite, Gruner Veltliner. Chris and I had this with Jacob's Creek Chardonnay a week ago, and it was a great match.

PS: if you use scallops, use the smallest ones you can find, and preferably ones that haven't been frozen. If you use bay scallops, cut them into pieces as small as the nail on your little finger.


1 pound fresh bay or deep sea scallops or shrimp
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp garlic chopped very fine (or more, if you're a garlic-lover)
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Chopped hot chili pepper, to taste (we love using 8-9 serranos, or a bunch of Thai birds-eye chilis)
Salt
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta (spaghettini, or thin spaghetti, is the best choice here)
1/2 cup dry, unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted in the oven or in a skillet

1. Wash the scallops in cold water, pat thoroughly with a cloth towel, and cut up into pieces about 3/8 inch thick (or follow the instructions on the package of frozen shrimp)

2. Put the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan, turn the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until the garlic colors a light gold. Add the parsley and hot pepper. Stir once or twice, then add the scallops/shrimp and one or two large pinches of salt. Turn the heat up to high, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the scallops/shrimp lose their shine and turn a flat white/pink. Do not overcook the scallops/shrimp or they will become tough. Taste and correct for salt and hot pepper. If the scallops shed a lot of liquid, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon, and boil down the watery liquid. Return the scallops/shrimp to the pan, turn them over quickly, then turn off the heat.

3. Toss thoroughly with cooked drained spaghettini, add the bread crumbs, toss again, and serve at once!

Asian Cold-Eze

This recipe for Chicken Soup with Jasmine Rice and Ginger, from Food and Wine: an Entire Year of Recipes 2006, is the perfect remedy for anything that ails you. Chris recently came down with a case of the stomach flu, and he was able to keep this down better than saltines! The chicken broth and rice provide low-stress nourishment, and the ginger helps alleviate any nausea. The recipe requires very little work or prep--just a bit of time on the stove.

Don't be scared of the fish sauce--it may stink a bit, but you won't notice it (in a bad way!) in the broth. The Three Crabs brand is fantastic, and can be had at any asian or international grocery.

Instead of poaching individual chicken breasts, I prefer to just buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat. If you'd prefer to prepare the meat yourself, take 1-2 chicken breasts and poach them in a bit of water or broth, then let them cool and shred the meat.





4 servings

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp jasmine rice, rinsed if necessary
4 cups water
One 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled (you can do this easily with the edge of a spoon)
3 cups of chicken stock, preferably low-sodium and organic
1 tbsp Asian fish sauce
Pinch each salt and sugar
1/2-1 cup shredded cooked chicken
2 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise
2 tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro

1. In a medium saucepan, cover the rice with the water. Bring the rice to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender and porridge-like, about 25 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cut the piece of peeled ginger into matchsticks: thinly slice the ginger crosswise into coins, then stack the slices. Cut the slices lengthwise into thin slivers.

3. Add the chicken stock, fish sauce, salt and sugar to the rice, bring the soup to a simmer and continue cooking over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in half of the ginger slivers and simmer the soup for 10 minutes longer.

4. Ladle the chicken soup into shallow bowls and garnish with the shredded chicken, sliced scallions, chopped cilantro, and the remaining slivered ginger. Serve at once.

Make ahead: The recipe can be made through Step 3 and refrigerated overnight. When reheating the soup, add extra stock to adjust the consistency.