Chicken Paprikash

When my wife told me she was cooking paprikash, I said to her, "Waiter, there is too much pepper in my paprikash." 

She looked at me like I was stupid.

Apparently, someone had never seen When Harry Met Sally.

1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

2 1/2 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (approximately 6 large ones)

salt and pepper

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

1 TB unsalted butter

3 TB ground sweet paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

15 oz can crushed tomatoes

minced parsley, for serving

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Pat chicken thighs dry and season both sides with s & p.

Melt 1 TB butter in a large, ovenproof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden brown and crisp (about 8 minutes). Transfer thighs, skin side up, to a plate.

Pour off excess fat from skillet, leaving about 1 TB. Reduce heat to low. Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent (about 8 minutes), stirring often.

Add paprika and cayenne (if using). Stir to make sure the onions are evenly coated and sauté for about 30 seconds until the spices are fragrant.

Pour tomatoes into the skillet. Fill the tomato can about 2/3 full of water, swirling it to get the remaining tomatoes, and add that to the skillet. Add salt and pepper.

Arrange the thighs, skin side up, in the skillet. Be sure to add any accumulated chicken juice. Nestle the thighs into the tomato sauce mixture, but don't submerge them all the way.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake it about 40 minutes, until the thighs are fully cooked. 

Remove the skillet from the oven. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Add s & p to the sauce to taste. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the sauce to a small bowl and stir in the sour cream until smooth. Pour this mixture back into the skillet and stir to combine with the rest of the tomato sauce.

Add the thighs back to the skillet. Top with parsley. Serve with buttered noodles or rice.