Popperkosh (Paprikash)

This is top two comfort food for myself and my family. From my Dad's side of the family, there is Hungarian ancestry. With that, we got the gift of Paprikash or Chicken Paprikash. Paprikash is the technical name of this classic Hungarian dish. The name over time within the family morphed into "Popperkosh." There are different versions of this recipe. This one in my opinion is the best. You would think this is strictly Fall and Winter food but honestly, growing up we used to have it any time of the year. It disappeared just as quickly on a hot Summer night.

Broth

• A few pats of butter with some oil for the bottom of the pan. I use olive or coconut.
• 1 chopped medium or large vidalia onion
• 1 whole chicken. You can either buy an actual whole chicken and cut it up later or buy the whole chicken already cut up. I have done both. A chicken that is already cut up is a little easier.
• 2 tablespoons paprika (maybe more if you love paprika!)
• Chicken bullion cubes. Start with 1 or 2, add more if you want as you taste the broth.
• A lot of sour cream. Same with the cubes, start with 1/2 or 3/4 cup and go from there. There have been times where a whole pint is used. Remember, this is the ultimate comfort food. Speaking of, don't you dare use fat free sour cream!
• Enough water to mostly cover the chicken.
• 4 tablespoons of flour

Dumplings

• My dumpling recipe is very "eye ball" -ish...Keep reading.
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 egg
• In a large bowl, I mix 1/3 cup of flour and an egg until the dough looks like enough. I'll repeat this down below.

1. Grab a large soup pot and add the oil and butter over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until tender. Add the paprika and stir.
2. Next add the chicken. If you bought a cut up chicken, place the pieces in the pot. If you bought a whole chicken, either cut up the pieces yourself or just put the whole chicken in the pot and cut the meat off later when it is cooked. I have done both.
3. Add enough water to almost cover the chicken. Bring the water to a boil and add the bullion cubes. Boil for about 25-30 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, make the dumplings.
4. As I stated above, my dumpling recipe is me eye balling it. I grab a big bowl and add 1/3 cup flour and 1 egg, then mix. I keep adding 1/3 cup flour and an egg until it looks like enough dumplings will be made. You should have a small to medium (ish) sized ball of dough. It will be a little sticky, feel very free to dust it with flour.
5. If you have another large soup pot, you can use this to cook the dumplings. I only have one so I always finish the chicken first. Once the chicken is cooked, I pull it out (leave the broth, don't strain it!) and let it cool for a minute. Keep the broth simmering. I pull the meat off the bones and shred it. Put the shredded chicken onto a large plate or into a big bowl. Put it off to the side until it is needed.
6. Now, back to the dumplings...Fill the water about half way and bring it to a boil. Grab a spoon and spoon out little dumplings from the dough. Place into the boiling water. If the spoon is getting sticky, place it into the boiling water. That will help the dough slide right off. Do this until the ball of dough is gone.
7. The dumplings will float to the top when they are done. The pot will definitely get a little crowded, this is ok. Every now and then, give it a stir.
8. All in all it should take about 10-15 minutes. Little more/little less. The dumplings will puff up, this is good. Strain the dumplings once cooked.
9. Now let's work on the broth. Add the sour cream and flour. Whisk until everything is combined. Crank up the heat a little while whisking. Sprinkle in a little more paprika if you want.
10. Do a little taste testing, if you think it needs another bullion cube, go for it. Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper too. Once the broth is combined, add the shredded chicken and dumplings. Give it a good stir and let it all combine for a couple of minutes.
11. Serve it up and enjoy! I personally love a little salt and pepper on top. Good luck not eating the entire pot.