Paprikasz Burgonya
This is the well-known heartclogger, which is actually quite a bit better for you than you thought. Especially if you keep kosher.
Three large potatoes, peeled and chunk-cut.
Three small sweet peppers, chopped.
Three roma tomatoes, or one beefsteak tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped.
One large onion, chopped.
Two or three cloves garlic, chopped.
Two Tablespoons Paprika.
One teaspoon Cayenne (more or less, it's up to you).
Half teaspoon Cumin or Caraway seeds.
One cup sherry.
One cup (vegetable) stock or water, more as needed.
Salt and pepper.
Olive oil or clarified butter – two to four tablespoons.
In an enameled stew pot, heat the grease and gild the onions, peppers, and garlic. Then add the cumin or caraway seeds and paprika, stir very briefly till fragrant, and seethe the pan with the sherry, stirring loose any crusty bits. Add the potatoes and tomatoes, plus the stock or water to cover. Simmer for thirty or so, till the potatoes are soft and the liquid has become a thick ruby sauce. Now adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
Serve with sour cream (smatana) on the side, for glopping over.
Note: Gentiles would use rendered animal fat to fry the onions, peppers, garlic. And there's nothing wrong with that. But doing so makes it inappropriate to add the smatana. And you do want to dump LOADS of smatana on top. Do not fight the urge.
So, if you're Gentile, use chicken stock and clarified butter or drippings. If you keep kosher, use olive oil and vegetable stock.
Further note: Yes, I know cumin and caraway do not taste the same. But in this dish, they are interchangeable. Using caraway seed is culturally appropriate, using cumin is more Indian and subcontinental. I always have cumin in my larder. Caraway, not so much.
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4 comments:
Cayenne is preposterous! Why not use a good-quality hot paprika? The spiciness is at least as intense, without adulterating the lovely paprika flavour.
You will also find you get very different results with Hungarian and Spanish paprika - the latter never enters our pantry at all (although I have been looking for a nice smoked paprika to use on smashed potatoes). You can store your paprika in the freezer in an airtight container to keep it good for up to a year.
Cayenne, also known as African Birdpepper, is a powdered chili of a reasonably standard strength. If your tolerance for heat is high, you will not notice any interference from the cayenne. I you're tolerance for heat is VERY high, you will instead buy large quantities of Chile D'Arbol and Thai Birdseye at the farmers' market around this time of year, which you will dry for use later.
A toasting in the oven before grinding developes a delightful toasty taste, spicy fragrance. Intoxicating. Thai chilies are sweeter but smaller, and you should crack them and check for mold around the seeds before toasting them.
Or you could simply use a nice Vietnamese chili-garlic paste. Plus some sambal badjak on the side for diners to add as they please.
Oh crap, I just realized that the heat is what you probably objected to. Yes, in that case, omit the cayenne, or Thai, or d'Arbol. Simply use 'Pride of Szeged'.
no, no, I love the heat, but hot paprika is a much better pepper for a paprikash. It is, after all, why it is called paprikash, and not cayennash. ;)
Cayenne, aside from the heat, has a flavour which is different from paprika and changes the overall flavour of the dish. A true paprikash may have garlic, onions, etc., but the only heat should come from paprika.
Note that you really do have to get GOOD quality paprika to tell the difference - Szeged crap has been sitting on room-temp store shelves for who knows how long, and is made from mediocre peppers to begin with.
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