Aunt Marys Chicken Pajarski Recipes

CHICKEN CUTLETS POJARSKI WITH PAPRIKA SAUCE

Steps:

• CHICKEN CUTLETS:.
• Chill a medium sized mixing bowl in the freezer.
• Place the boned chicken meat on a board and chop thoroughly with a sharp knife until fine or grind the meat in a meat grinder. (You can use a food processor for this but you must take extreme care not to over-process the meat as the texture of your cooked cutlets will be too heavy.).
• Add the meat to the chilled bowl. Add salt and white pepper to taste, the nutmeg and 5 tablespoons of the butter, melted. Mix well. Return the bowl and mixture to the freezer to chill once more while you prepare the dredging station. Do not freeze.
• Season the flour with salt and white pepper and place on a length of wax paper. Break the egg into a pie plate and beat with the vegetable oil and water. Place the bread crumbs on another length of wax paper.
• Divide the chilled mixture into 6 to 8 portions and shape each into a 1/2 inch thick cutlet. Dip one cutlet at a time into the flour, then in egg, then in bread crumbs. Press the crumbs gently into the cutlets then chill them until ready to cook. ( The cutlets may be made several hours ahead to this point. Keep cutlets refrigerated until ready to cook.).
• Heat the remaining butter in a large skillet and careful add the cutlets. Cook until golden brown on one side then turn and cook on the other.
• Serve with the Paprika Sauce.
• PAPRIKA SAUCE:.
• Melt one tablespoon of the butter in a small saucepan and cook the onion until wilted. Sprinkle with the paprika, flour and thyme, stirring. Stir in the chicken stock, using a whisk and simmer about 3 minutes. (The sauce may be made several hours ahead up until this point.).
• Add the cream and bring to a boil. Add the lemon juice, salt and white pepper to taste and the cognac.
• Strain the sauce through a sieve. Return to the heat and stir in the remaining butter and the sour cream. Heat the sauce through but do not bring to a boil.

AUNT SARA'S CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

Steps:

• Lightly flour the chicken and brown in the oil.
• Add the paprika, onion powder, salt, pepper, vegetables, parsley and chicken broth.
• Simmer until the chicken is cooked, approximately one hour. Remove the chicken pieces and cool slightly or until you are able to remove the meat from the bones.
• Pour the broth through a colander back into the kettle and discard the vegetables. Cool the broth slightly.
• Combine the sour cream, water and flour until smooth and stir into the warm broth to make a creamy, slightly thick gravy.
• Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and make the dumpling dough.
• In a large bowl beat the eggs, add the water, flour and salt to make a sticky dough. Put the dough on a large plate and cut dumplings with a spoon into the boiling water. The size that you make them is totally your call. We like them to be about grape size but you can certainly make them smaller. if you happen to have a spatzele cutter this works great as well. Stir and cook the dumplings for about 5 minutes or until the float on the top of the water. Drain well.
• Add the chicken pieces back into the gravy and server over the dumplings. YYYUUUUMMMM!

VEAL POJARSKI

Steps:

• Soak the mushrooms in warm water to cover until soft (about 30 minutes), then drain and coarsely chop.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• In a large skillet, melt 1/2 the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, shallot and garlic. Cook, stirring, until shallot is translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. (Do not brown.) Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
• Soak bread in milk for 15 minutes, then lightly squeeze dry.
• In a large bowl, combine porcini mixture, soaked bread, roasted meat, ground veal, thyme, egg and salt. To taste for seasoning, heat a small skillet and fry a chunk of the mixture until browned. Add salt and pepper to mixture, to taste.
• Divide the mixture in half and shape each half into a ball, with a slightly flattened top and bottom. If using bones, poke a hole in one side of each ball and stick a bone into the hole.
• Put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy baking dish and gently lay the balls side by side. Lay 2 pieces of bacon on each and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, basting every 4 or 5 minutes, until sizzling and fragrant. Remove bacon for last 5 minutes of cooking. Serve hot.

CHICKEN SOUP (AUNT MARY'S PENICILLIN)

Steps:

• In a large pot, place four quarts cold water. Add the chicken, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaf, salt and peppercorns and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for three hours, using a spoon to skim the soup as thoroughly as possible. Cool. (The soup can be strained at this point, to use as chicken broth. Mrs. Stacey proceeds with the next two steps.)
• Strain the soup. Discard the onion, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorn, and save the other vegetables. Skin and debone the chicken and save the meat. Return the chicken meat, carrots, celery and garlic clove to the pot and bring back to a simmer, seasoning with additional salt or pepper to taste.
• Serve the soup in big bowls, over pastina, rice or very thin spaghettini. The soup's curative powers are released only when the vegetables are mashed together in the bowl. Use a fork for mashing. Use a big spoon for eating.

CHICKEN CUTLETS "POJARSKY"

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine chopped chicken, onion, parsely, milk, breadcrumbs, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Add additional breadcrumbs as needed to thicken batter.
• Divide mixture into four equal portions.
• Roll mixture into a patty. Shape the patty into a small cutlet.
• Refrigerate for at least two hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Dip each cutlet into eggs and coat with breadcrumbs.
• In a skillet, melt butter and cook chicken cutlets over very low heat for 3 minutes on each side until golden.
• Cook in oven 30 minutes longer.
• Serve with a cream of mushroom sauce.