Quay Po Cooks: paprika

Showing posts with label paprika. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Oops, where's the paprika!!??

Hi Everyone, This is "hubby" dropping in for a quick note to share with you a very interesting link to information about paprika and a super simple recipe. So why suddenly an interest in paprika? I was looking through our collection of recipes for something to do with chicken as I am preparing the main dish for this evening's dinner. I thought of paprika and it's brilliant red color. It is the season after all. As I scanned the list under chicken I found it, slapping my forehead and muttering "oh yeah" to myself. Chicken Parisienne jumped out from the screen and I remembered that paprika is the primary spice, along with salt and black pepper. That should be just the ticket in this creamy white dish. I was good until I realized that we were out of paprika. That sent me back to the computer, this time to search for paprika substitutes. In the process I found the page in the link that follows and learned something rather extraordinary about paprika. Apparently it's use is all about the color and not so much as a flavoring agent. That is, of course, unless you use the smoked Spanish paprika which will impart some smoky flavor. Here, I'll let you read for yourselves if interested in the wonders of paprika, but do come back if you want a very-simple-but-good-enough-to-serve-company recipe. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/paprika-substitute.html

Here is what you will need for this no fuss recipe:

A two quart baking dish with cover, a medium sized mixing bowl, a whisk, and a measuring cup
.

1 tbs of vegetable oil

4 lg. chicken breasts

12 medium sized Crimini mushrooms (Italian brown)

1/2 c. chicken stock

1 c. sour cream

1 c. half and half or light cream

1/2 c. dry white wine

2 rounded tbs all purpose flour salt/papper to taste

Paprika to taste (may substitute chili powder

Optional: garlic to taste (I use three full bibs of fresh garlic)

Method: Oil the inner surface of the baking dish with a brush or a soaked paper towel. Wash, pat dry, and debone chicken breast, placing them in the oiled baking dish.

Slice mushrooms about 1/2 cm (3/8inch) thick and spread over the chicken breasts

Combine chicken stock, white wine, sour cream, light cream, and flour in the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. Pour this mixture over the chicken and sprinkle generously with paprika (or somewhat more sparingly with a mixture of chili powder and allspice).

Bake at 175C (350F) degrees for about 1 hour, or until tender. Serve over your choice of white rice or egg noodles. (I like the noodles which I toss slightly with a pat of butter and a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley.

Sprinkle a little more paprika on the chicken after plating. The contrast between the green flecks in the noodles and the red on the chicken qualify this dish for a pre Christmas, celebratory, dinner. Serves 4 people. (You can stretch this to 5 or 6 chicken breast without adding any liquid)

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.