Not Your Mother's Shepherds Pie

Winter in Pittsburgh and the house I love to cook in. 

I love cooking in winter. I love soups and stews and slow cooker dishes like pot roast and pork & beans. I love cranking up the oven when its below freezing outside and I love standing over a steaming skillet while watching the snow fall out my kitchen window. I especially love the warm, satisfied feeling and sense of accomplishment that washes over me after eating that steaming bowl of chicken soup with homemade bread or that slow-cooked tomato sauce with eggplant, mushrooms and meatballs.

My husband and I started on Weight Watchers a few months ago and we've slowly but steadily been dropping weight. The best foods for this program are lean proteins and lots of fresh fruit and veggies. Its particularly challenging in the winter because so much of what I crave tends to be heavy, starchy and full of carbs. Of course, nothing is off limits in moderation, but some of my favorite winter foods like pasta, potatoes, rice and bread are all terrible when you're trying to lose weight. In an effort to make healthier choices and still enjoy my favorite cold weather recipes, I've been experimenting with a few variations. So when my friend Jenny told me she was making shepherds pie with mashed cauliflower in place of potatoes, I almost lost my mind.

Shepherds pie is a layered dish made with ground lamb or mutton cooked in gravy with onions and veggies, topped with mashed potatoes and baked until golden brown. It was my mother's favorite way to use leftover leg of lamb and she even had a specific baking dish that she used for shepherds pie. Made properly, this dish is hearty, rich and comforting, but its certainly not "diet" food. This variation delivers maximum flavor without maximum calories.

NOT YOUR MOTHER'S SHEPHERDS PIE

For the topping:
1 large head of cauliflower
2 tbsp fat free half and half
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

For the filling:
2 lbs ground lamb
1 lb cremini or white button mushrooms
1 small yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup white wine or chicken broth
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp olive oil, bacon fat or chicken fat
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste

Cauliflower is an underappreciated vegetable. Its very low in fat and carbs, high in vitamin c and its incredibly versatile. It can be eaten boiled, roasted, braised, fried, steamed, pickled or just raw in a salad. The last time I bought a head of cauliflower, I sliced it into thick planks, drizzled it with a little olive oil and roasted it in a 350 degree oven and it was scrumptious. Its also excellent steamed with sweet potatoes or butternut squash and pureed together. Riced cauliflower is starting to show up frequently as a substitute for white rice. However, for a dish like shepherds pie, it does present a challenge. Cauliflower has a moderately high moisture content and isn't starchy and stiff like mashed potatoes. The puree needs to have some structure to hold its shape while baking. I knew I'd need to get as much excess moisture out of it as possible. I decided to steam the cauliflower in the microwave with just a tiny bit of water in the bottom of the bowl. I left it in large pieces and chose a deep bowl so the steam would rise and circulate around the cauliflower. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and cooked the cauliflower on high until is was soft, about 10 minutes, then left it sitting on the counter, still covered, until it cooled down. Once it was cooled, I put the cooked cauliflower into a strainer over a bowl and put it in the fridge. I figured it would be easier to squeeze any remaining liquid out of it when it was cold, which turned out to be a good call. By the time I needed it, a lot of the water had drained off and I squeezed out the remaining liquid before moving on to the next step. 

The filling for this dish should be saucy and savory and each step of the recipe builds layers of flavor. Any root vegetables would be good in this dish. This is a relatively simple preparation, but you should feel free to experiment with carrots, parsnips, celeriac, leeks, fennel of whatever you like. I got my onions chopped and mushrooms sliced before putting a skillet with one tablespoon of  bacon fat over medium. I sauteed the onions until just barely translucent, then added a tablespoon of tomato paste, the chopped garlic, cinnamon, dried thyme, about a teaspoon of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. The tomato paste darkens and caramelizes as it cooks and the spices bloom, adding deep flavor to the sauce. When the onions were starting to brown, I added the mushrooms. As they cooked, the mushrooms released a little liquid, which I used to loosen up the caramelized tomato paste and scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan, adding more flavor. Once the mushrooms were soft, I removed this mixture from the pan so I could cook the lamb.

Before adding the lamb to the pan, I turned the heat up to medium high and added the rest of the bacon fat, the rest of the tomato paste and the flour, stirring briefly to combine and toast the flour briefly. Little by little, I added small handfuls of ground lamb to the pan, giving it a chance to brown slightly before stirring and adding the next handful. If you dump all the cold meat in at once, it cools down the pan and the meat boils instead of browns. I added a little more salt and pepper and cooked the lamb until no raw meat was visible, then I returned the onions and mushrooms to the pan and added the wine. As the sauce cooks and reduces, it thickens and the flavors become more concentrated and luscious, which takes about 15 minutes. Finally, I folded in the peas and set the filling aside while I made the topping.

Normally when I puree squash or make mashed potatoes, my hand mixer does an admirable job. But cauliflower is lumpy and fibrous and I wanted a perfectly smooth and spreadable puree. The food processor was the right tool for this job and it broke down all the tough fibers, resulting in a lovely, soft puree. I added the half & half and melted butter while the cauliflower was processing and its texture was absolutely perfect. One last thing remained to be done before assembly - I mixed the Panko crumbs with the grated cheese and chopped parsley. Finally it was time for the fun part. I cranked the oven to 350 and got ready to assemble a world class shepherds pie. I chose an 8 quart oval baking dish for this task and decided to spread a thin layer of puree along the bottom and up the sides. Then I ladled that lovely lamb and mushroom mixture into that bed of silky pureed cauliflower and they settled in together like an old married couple. I spooned the cauliflower puree in a thick layer over the filling, sprinkled the breadcrumbs all over the top, drizzled a little bit of olive oil over the breadcrumbs and put it on a sheet tray in the oven. Boom!!

About 45 minutes later when I looked in the oven and saw a beautiful brown and crunchy top, I knew I'd hit this one out of the ballpark. This shepherds pie looked magnificent. The breadcrumbs and cheese had baked into each other and turned into a hard-baked crust. The remaining moisture in the puree had evaporated as it baked and it looked perfectly firm. I took the tray out of the oven and allowed my creation to cool while I made a lightly dressed herb salad with cherry tomatoes to accompany our hearty winter fare. After cooling for about 15 minutes, it was time to dig in. The cauliflower held its shape very nicely and yet still had that silky quality to it. The filling had deep, rich flavor with small hints of warm cinnamon and earthy thyme and a fresh pop from the green peas. All in all, this dish was a smashing success and with a lot less fat and calories than the traditional recipe. I think my mom would have loved it. Just as Jenny did for me, I hope I inspired you to try this amazing dish and put your own twist on it. Good luck!

 

Homemade French Onion Soup

In the depths of winter, I become obsessed with soup. To me, soup is the ultimate celebration of the circle of life. After the choice cuts of meat and the tender goodness of fresh vegetables have been enjoyed at their peak, all the nutrients and flavors of the remnants can be extracted to make soup. Soup gives discarded things like onion skins, celery leaves, carrot peelings and animal bones a chance to play the starring role on the dinner table rather than suffering a bleak ending in the compost bin. Soup means virtually nothing goes to waste. When I roast a chicken or turkey, I always make stock from the bones. My freezer usually has at least two quarts of stock in it and there are always bags of vegetable trimmings and bones in my freezer, which I save up and use to make soup all winter long.

Nothing says "you are loved" like a bowl of beautifully prepared homemade soup. Its tremendously healthy and nourishing because the long, slow cooking process allows for the greatest extraction of life-giving nutrients. Plus, after the stock has cooled, it becomes very easy to remove all the fat that renders out during cooking. Sure, you can buy canned soup, but have you ever read the list of ingredients? Homemade stock can be used to make any soup your heart desires and because you made it yourself, you know exactly what's in it. No preservatives, chemicals or hidden sugars and you get to control the amount of sodium.

All different kinds of stock are made the same way. Combinations of bones, meat and vegetables such as onions, carrots and celery are slowly simmered together until they release all their goodness into the cooking liquid. Vegetarian broth can include things like mushrooms, leaks, parsnips and other root vegetables. Seafood stock can be made using shrimp or lobster shells, fish bones and clam juice. You get the idea. Roasting the ingredients before simmering adds complexity and depth of flavor in the final stock, but if you don't have the time or ability to roast everything, you can just toss it all together in a big pot and your stock will still taste delicious.

We hosted my in-laws for Christmas this year and I cooked a scrumptious prime rib. There were two sizable beef bones left over that were crying out to be turned into stock. As I imagined what to make with my homemade beef stock, french onion soup sprang to mind. With a snowstorm and bitterly cold temperatures coming for New Years weekend, a hearty bowl of french onion soup with its oozing cheese, crusty croutons and rich savory broth sounded perfect.

HOMEMADE FRENCH ONION SOUP

Beef stock:
About 4 lbs beef soup bones
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 large yellow onion
2 ribs celery
1 large carrot
2 bay leaves
1 tsp whole peppercorns
3 large garlic cloves
1 can beef broth
8 cups water

Onion soup:
About 6 cups sliced yellow onion
2 thick slices of bacon, chopped
2 tbsp sherry or brandy
Salt & pepper to taste
1 small loaf of crusty bread
Grated Swiss, provolone or muenster cheese

The two bones I had left over were not enough to make a respectable quantity of stock. Fortunately, I found both soup bones and small pieces of oxtail at the grocery store. Oxtail is perfect for stock as it has a lot of connective tissue and collagen that breaks down as it cooks, adding body and richness.  If you've never made your own stock before, there's nothing to it. But there are some steps you can take to achieve the best possible outcome and roasting the bones makes a huge difference in the flavor, color and body of your stock. I cranked my oven to 300, scattered all the bones out in my roasting pan and brushed them lightly with tomato paste. The bones roast for about an hour and the tomato paste caramelizes and concentrates, adding another layer of flavor to the final stock. I put the roasting pan in the oven and turned my attention to the veggies. No need to peel anything as the stock will simmer for at least four hours and by the time its finished cooking, there won't be much recognizable vegetables left. Onion skins add a deep golden color to your stock and celery leaves have a ton of flavor. You could actually roast the vegetables along with the bones, tossing them in about half way through roasting, but I browned mine on the stove top. I cut the onion, carrot and celery into large chunks and slowly browned them over medium heat in the bottom of my stock pot. A small drizzle of olive oil aids in browning. I also added a tablespoon of tomato paste to the veggies and stirred them periodically so they didn't burn. I turned the bones over half way through roasting and after an hour in the oven, they were a deep reddish brown color and there was a generous crust of caramelized juices in the bottom of the pan. A couple of the soup bones had marrow in the middle, which is very fatty and can make your stock cloudy if you leave it in there. The good news is that it is also quite delicious on its own. I scooped the small dollops of marrow into a small dish and tossed all the bones into the stock pot with the veggies. The caramelized juices in the pan, or "fond" as its sometimes called, is chock full of flavor. I poured all the beef fat out of the roasting pan, then splashed a little water in there and started scraping up all the fond and dissolving it into the water before pouring that into the stock pot as well.

I have made all kinds of stock over the years and I find that adding just one can of store-bought broth gives your final product the head start it needs to develop excellent flavor. Your liquid should just barely cover the bones and it will reduce a bit as it cooks. For this amount of bones and veggies, I used 1 can of broth, which is about two cups, to eight cups of water. I tossed in the garlic cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns, turned the heat down to low, covered the pot and ate that bone marrow on a thin crispy cracker. Nom nom!!

I stirred the stock a few times during its four hour simmer, just to make sure it was behaving itself. Cooking the stock covered keeps all the steam inside, whereas an uncovered pot allows the liquid to evaporate and that concentrates the stock. After four hours, your stock should have deep color and rich flavor, but if its too weak, take the cover off and let the stock reduce. When its done cooking, strain the stock into a big bowl and allow it to cool before putting it in jars and putting it in the fridge or freezer. If you've done this right, your stock should have a gelatinous, jiggly and even somewhat solid consistency after its chilled. That means you have extracted a good amount of collagen from the soup bones. You can make any kind of soup you like with a stock like this.

Onions, raw

I ended up with about two quarts of beef stock, which I turned into french onion soup the following day. Again, this is not a difficult recipe to make and requires just a few ingredients, a little technique and a bit of patience. The onions need to caramelize slowly over low heat to reach the perfect deep golden color and texture, which takes about 45 minutes. Onions have a lot of natural sugar in them, which means they can go from charred to burned very quickly, so you can't walk away from that pot for too long or your onions will burn.

Onions, after 15 minutes

Use that time to toast your bread and shred your cheese. You can use a food processor to slice your onions, but I like doing mine by hand. To avoid crying while you cut onions, make sure you sharpen your knife. A sharp knife will glide through the onion easily, but a dull knife will bruise the onion, sending more of its eye-watering juices flying into your face. Sharpen your knife, cut the onion in half through the root end and lay the cut surface flat on your cutting board. Then you can slice your onion into thin strands, which is the best texture for this soup.

Onions, after 30 minutes

Before I sliced my onions, I chopped my bacon into small pieces and got them rendering over medium heat in the bottom of my stock pot. When they were brown and crispy, I removed the cooked bacon and used the bacon fat to start cooking my onions. I put all the onions in the pot at once, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, and turned the heat to low. Again, this takes time and while you don't have to stir constantly, check the onions frequently so they don't burn. I stirred mine every 10 minutes or so as they cooked and became soft and translucent.

Onions, after 45 minutes

While the onions were cooking, I sliced the bread, put it on a sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil and put the pan is a 325 degree oven to toast. After about 10 minutes, I flipped the bread over and let it toast on the other side. It took about 20 minutes for the bread to toast to a light golden brown. I also grated a little cheese and set it aside. Once the onions were nicely caramelized, I added the sherry and let that bubble and cook off the alcohol for a few minutes. Once the sherry has almost cooked away, I added the beef stock and turned the heat up to medium. As soon as the soup begins to boil, its ready to eat! Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then ladle the rich soup into crocks or bowls. I like to float the toasted bread on top, then sprinkle it with cheese and pop the whole thing under the broiler for a few minutes to get that cheese melted and bubbling. This can also be done in the microwave, but the broiler imparts a little bit of browning on the cheese, which is nice.  Finally, I sprinkled the cooked bacon bits on top and served this amazing soup with a small salad on the side. A bowl of homemade soup is like getting a hug on the inside. Next time you're in the mood for soup, try making your own stock instead of opening a can. It may just change your life.

Voila! Homemade French Onion Soup!

Hungarian roots, part 4: Cabbage rolls

Many of the recipes and preparations that are staples on the Hungarian table are found in the local cuisines throughout eastern Europe and even into parts of Asia. The simple cabbage roll is certainly one that cuts across cultural lines. These little bundles of meat and rice rolled in softened cabbage leaves vary dramatically based on region, climate and access to ingredients. In northern Europe where the growing season shorter, its not uncommon to find this dish with a sour cream based sauce and caraway seeds in the filling. In Austria, its cooked in beef broth. As it travels south to warmer climates, a tomato based sauce becomes more common and you'll find fresh herbs or greens in the filling. A colleague of mine who is Croatian shared his mom's cabbage rolls with me and she softens the cabbage by souring it in a vinegar based brine and then cooks the rolls in sauerkraut. The iconic little cabbage roll really is a study of the intersection between food and culture.

My people came from Romanian and I learned to appreciate the unique combinations of sweet and savory in Turkish cooking. I make these cabbage rolls exactly as my mother did because in my humble opinion, they need no improvement. If I was stranded on a desert island for five years, this would be the first hot meal I would request after being rescued.

CABBAGE ROLLS:

1 large head of green cabbage
2 lbs of 85/15 ground beef
1/2 cup of raw, long grain rice
2 large eggs
1 small onion
1/4 cup water
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
lemon zest

For the sauce:
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
2 large lemons
2 tbsp light brown sugar

There are three parts to this dish - cabbage, filling and sauce, none of which are terribly difficult to prepare. The cabbage needs to be softened so it is pliable and easy to roll and the best way to do that is to blanch it in boiling water. The sauce is just three ingredients, mixed together in the bottom of a deep casserole dish. The filling gets rolled up into cabbage leaves, nestled into the sauce and baked in the oven. Again, none of this is brain surgery, but the assembly is important and good preparation will make each step go faster.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and putting a stock pot filled with water over medium high heat. While you are waiting for the water to boil, get your sauce ready. Add the can of tomato sauce to the bottom of your casserole dish. You will be using lemon juice in the sauce, but you need the lemon zest for the filling. Zest both lemons into a large mixing bowl, then juice them into the tomato sauce. Finally, add the brown sugar, stir it all together and set it aside. Nothing could be easier! If you want to zing it up with hot sauce or paprika, by all means, do your best, but this I usually just stick to mom's recipe.

To prep the cabbage, slice off the bottom of the core as close to the leaves as possible. Using a small parking knife, begin to cut the leaves away from the thick core. If the head of cabbage is lose enough, you can try gently removing the leaves as you loosen them from the core, but that is often more challenging than it seems. You want to cut enough of the core out so you can see the inside of the cabbage leaves all stacked up. That'll make the leaves much easier to separate when they soften. Use a spoon to scoop out the inner core, then put the entire head of cabbage into the boiling water. It'll take 8 to 10 minutes at a low simmer and as the leaves begin to soften, pull them out and set them in a bowl to cool. Don't let the cabbage overcook! You want it to retain enough of its structure to stay wrapped around the filling and not fall apart while its baking. You should be able to get enough leaves to make 15-20 cabbage rolls from one medium head of cabbage, but of course that will vary based on size.

While your cabbage is blanching, you can get started on the filling. Dice the onion very finely and saute it along with the spices in a skillet over medium heat. When the onions are translucent, add the chopped garlic and saute just until fragrant. Add the onions to the bowl with the lemon zest, then add the rice, water and raisins and let that sit for a few minutes while you tend to your cabbage. I should take a moment to discuss the addition of raisins in this recipe. Its a somewhat controversial ingredient and tends to be polarizing. People either love it or hate, there's no in between. My mother and I loved the raisins but the rest of my family did not, so more often than not we ate this dish sans raisins. But when I moved out on my own and started cooking for myself, those raisins went right back in. Alas, my husband hates the raisins. I tried chopping them finely before adding them to the filling, but he finds the flavor objectionable. Oh well. Its entirely up to you if you want to give them a whirl, but I highly recommend it.

Add the meat and beat the eggs slightly before adding to them to the bowl. Using the tools god gave you (your hands), mix everything thoroughly and add a final bit of salt and pepper to make sure your filling is flavorful. Its a somewhat sticky and wet filling, but the rice will absorb the extra moisture and will bind the ingredients together. Now its time to rock & roll!

If you have some partial cabbage leaves, especially the dark outer leaves, lay them over the bottom of the casserole dish and nestle them into the sauce as protection while the cabbage rolls cook. If you've ever rolled a burrito or an eggroll, you'll be able to make a cabbage roll with ease. Cut the core out of the middle of the cabbage leaf in a v-shape. Then grab a small handful of filling, about a third of a cup, and roll it into a log. Place the filling just above the point of the v-shape and bring the bottom flaps of the cabbage leaf up around the filling. Fold the side of the cabbage leaf in, then roll the whole thing up and place it into the casserole dish. When you fill the bottom of the dish, lay a few cabbage leaves over the bottom layer and starts a new layer on top.

Keep going until you run out of filling, then shred what's left of the cabbage and sprinkle it over the top of the cabbage rolls. Cover the casserole with a lid or foil and bake it for an hour. The sauce should be bubbling up around the edges and in between the cabbage rolls.

You absolutely MUST serve these cabbage rolls over mashed potatoes. Okay, if you prefer a healthier alternative like mashed squash, cauliflower or even brown rice, that works. Its just not as voluptuous. That sauce needs a companion and mashed potatoes are the perfect match. This classic Hungarian cabbage role recipe takes me back to my childhood and its not as difficult as you might think. I guarantee it will warm your soul on a cold winter day.

Hungarian roots, part 3: Goulash

When I smell onions and paprika cooking together, I am instantly transported to the family dinners of my childhood at my Grandma Bella's house in New York. Onions and paprika are the base for so many Hungarian classics that you might call them the "holy duo" of Hungarian cuisine. In my opinion, no other dish expresses that unique flavor profile better than goulash.

This slow cooked stew of meat, onions, vegetables and paprika is eaten all over Central Europe, but it originated with cattle herders in Hungary. Its been a staple on Hungarian tables since about the 9th century, although paprika didn't make it to that part of the world until the 16th century. I've always made goulash with beef, but it can be made with pork, veal or lamb. Like any beef stew, the best cuts for this preparation are tough cuts that require long, slow cooking such as rump, shoulder or brisket. Purists will say that authentic goulash has only 4 ingredients - meat, onions, paprika and water - but it was not uncommon for vegetables like celery and carrots to be added. Over time, different ingredients like potatoes, bell pepper, garlic and wine found their way into the goulash pot.

My mother made her goulash with blade steaks cut from the shoulder and it had big pieces of potato in it. She typically served it with brown bread and a green veggie on the side. My grandmother's goulash had a thin, watery sauce and she served it over egg noodles, which is more traditional. But the absolute best goulash I ever ate came from an unlikely place - my ex husband. He was raised by his Austrian mother and grandmother and they were incredible cooks. I will never forget the roast duck they served me with chewy potato dumplings anointed in duck fat and braised sweet and sour red cabbage on the side. My ex husband learned how to make goulash from them and in my opinion it is the gold standard. It is the goulash that every other goulash aspires to be.  

GOULASH

4 lbs of beef - chuck, rump roast or bottom round are the best cuts. 

6 medium onions

3 tbsp of good quality paprika

1 qt. white button mushrooms

1 cup white wine - I like a mild German riesling for this dish

Salt and pepper
Flour for dusting

Chuck on the right, bottom round on the left

Let's start with the beef. The best cuts for this recipe are from the tough, well used muscles of the cow. These cuts have fat, collagen and connective tissue that break down during cooking and add flavor and richness to the dish. Chuck comes from the shoulder and is good for stewing, braising and slow roasting. Brisket also lends itself to long, slow cooking and it has a generous amount of fat that keeps the meat moist and juicy as it cooks. Rump roast or bottom round is a little more lean and is the go-to cut for pot roast. I used a two pound piece of chuck and a two pound piece of bottom round, which I trimmed of excess fat and cut into large chunks. 

Next, lets talk about the onions. The best variety for this dish is the yellow or Spanish onion. This may seem like a huge amount of onions and, to be honest, it is. But don't forget, this dish cooks for two hours and the onions basically cook down to nothing but flavor. They become sweet and soft and they add a ton of beautiful flavor to this stew.  Its kind of a pain in the butt to prep all these onions, but once you get good at it, it goes quickly. Make sure your knife is very sharp to avoid crying while you're slicing them. Cut the onion in half through the root, lay the cut side down and slice the top off. Peel the dark and tough outer layers of the onions, then lay them flat on your cutting board. Cut off the root end and slice each onion thinly. I just happened to have some carrot sticks in the fridge, so I decided to dice them and throw them in. I also really like button mushrooms in this dish. Its not traditional, but it is delicious. They will get added to the goulash half way through cooking. 

Finally, a word about paprika. This spice is made from air dried peppers and there are a surprising array of different kinds of paprika from sweet to hot to pungent. The peppers were not native to Central Europe, but originated in Mexico and were brought to Spain in the 16th century where they spread throughout Central Europe. Hungarian paprika is prized for its unique sweetness and bright red color. Its easy to think that goulash has some kind of tomato product in it because of its deep red color, but that color comes exclusively from the paprika! Look for real Hungarian paprika and invest in a good quality spice. This recipe calls for a whopping three tablespoons of paprika, which also seems like a lot, and it is. But again, after two hours of cooking with the meat and onions, the paprika become mellow and complex. Don't skimp in this recipe. 

With everything prepped, you're ready to start cooking. Put a large stock pot over medium low heat and dump all the onions in with a little bit of butter, about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper and all that paprika. Add about a tablespoon of kosher salt and a teaspoon of ground black pepper to the meat and toss it in. Then sprinkle about two tablespoons of flour over the meat and gently toss to coat each piece of meat with a little bit of flour. Not only will the flour help the meat brown, but it will also add a little body to the sauce. You're going to sear the meat in a hot pan before you add it to the pot, so put a medium skillet over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot, put six or seven pieces of meat in and let it brown. Don't overcrowd the pan with too much meat or your meat will boil instead of sear. Turn the meat over so it browns on both sides, then add a splash of the wine to deglaze the pan. Let the wine cook briefly with the meat, then dump it all into the pot with the onions.  It'll probably take four or five batches to get all the meat browned. Once you get all the meat in to the pot, cover it and turn the heat down to low. Cook it for two hours and half way through, add the cleaned mushrooms. If your sauce looks a little too thin, take the lid off the pot for the final half hour of cooking.

When the meat is cooked properly, it will shred easily into that luxurious red sauce. Using two forks, shred the meat and mix it into the sauce being careful not to break up the mushrooms. The onions and other vegetables will have cooked completely into the sauce and combined with the paprika create a deep and complex flavor that is just heavenly. Serve your goulash over wide noodles with a dollop of sour cream on top and a crisp green salad on the side. This dish is like getting a warm Hungarian hug from the inside. I think my ancestors would be pleased. 

Hungarian roots, part 2 - Chicken Paprikash

Kate and Isadore Segall - great grandparents

After a completely authentic Hungarian dinner at Jozsa Corner last month, my culinary thoughts have turned to the dishes I grew up with, the food of my heritage. On my mother's side, my family lineage is Hungarian and Romanian. My great grandparents Isadore and Kate Segall came to this country as teenagers in the late 1800's and married and raised a family in New York City. Kate taught her traditional recipes to my Grandma Bella, who passed them down to my mother Bonnie. Mom was a wonderful cook and when I prepare these recipes at home, I imagine the women who preceded me, the European wives and mothers who passed these recipes down from generation to generation. When I cook my favorite Hungarian family dishes, I can feel my ancestors looking over my shoulder and guiding my hand. 

Some of these dishes I can prepare without thinking and these are the recipes I turn to time and again. They are peasant dishes with no frills, no fancy ingredients and no complicated cooking process or special equipment. They are the meals I ate as a child, the comfort food of my people, and one of my favorites is chicken paprikash.  In fact, it is the national dish of Hungary! It’s kind of a chicken and onion stew that is ripe with paprika and it’s typically served over spaetzle or egg noodles, which absorbs the sauce. Because it cooks quickly, this was a go-to weeknight dinner for my family and the leftovers were even better the next day. 

Although I saw her prepare it hundreds of times, my mother taught me to make this dish over the phone. Not long after I moved away from home, I had a craving for chicken paprikash, so I called her to get the recipe. She told me to basically throw everything in a pot, cover it and walk away for half an hour. I couldn't believe it was that simple. I asked "How do you make the sauce?" and she said "It makes its own sauce". What??!! No way!! But when I followed her instructions, it totally worked. Over the years as I've learned more about technique, food chemistry and the finer points of cooking, I've modified this dish to my own liking. I hate to say it lest I insult my ancestors, but I think I've improved this traditional family recipe. Grandma Bella, please forgive me!! 

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

1 large onion

2 tbsp sweet paprika

1 cup of white wine or chicken broth

Flour for dusting the chicken, salt and pepper to taste

When cooking peasant dishes like this one, it’s important to remember that they all have regional differences and most of them were created based on what was available to people at the time. I have read dozens of recipes for chicken paprikash and very few of them are exactly the same as this one. I've seen recipes that call for some kind of tomato product, which is not traditional at all. Some recipes call for adding sour cream to the sauce, which we never did in my house. You may read this and think "that's not at all how I make it", but this is exactly what I grew up eating. My mother told me to slice the onion, saute it briefly in a deep pot, toss in the chicken pieces, sprinkle the paprika on top, cover the pot and simmer it on medium low heat for about half an hour. That produces a thin and watery sauce and chicken with flabby skin. Needless to say, I made some modifications. 

If your chicken breasts are big, you can cut them in half so that all the chicken pieces are roughly the same size. I typically don't use boneless chicken for this dish as it dries out and no matter how much sauce you spoon on it, it will be stringy and tough. My preference is bone-in thighs and legs, which stay moist during cooking. Give the onion a rough chop and saute it in the bottom of a large pot. You want a tall pot for this recipe as it creates steam, thus retaining all the moisture and that's how this dish makes its own sauce, although the wine helps. Here is where my preparation departs from my mother's. I season the chicken then dust it generously with flour and once the onions start to turn soft and brown a bit, I move the onions to the side of the pot and brown the chicken. The more you brown things, the more flavor your dish develops. In addition to helping the chicken brown, the flour thickens the sauce. Brown the chicken until the skin has rendered some of its fat and is golden brown. Also, if you're concerned about the fat and calories, you can remove the chicken skin and it'll turn out just fine.

Turn the chicken over and sprinkle the paprika over the top. This may seem like a lot of paprika, but it mixes into the sauce and blends with the onions and wine. Trust me, I promise it's not too much. Pour the wine or broth in, put a cover on the pot, turn the heat down to low and simmer the chicken for about half an hour, which gives you enough time to boil some wide egg noodles. To check for doneness, stick a knife in the bottom of one of the chicken thighs. The knife should slide in easily and the juices from the chicken should run clear and not pink. Fill a bowl with egg noodles, place the chicken pieces on top and pour the sauce over the top so it runs down into the noodles. I like to serve mine with a green salad on the side. This is simple Hungarian home cooking that speaks to my soul. Sometimes, there's nothing better.