Chicken (or almost anything else) Paprikash on the cheap

You'll notice that there are no photos with this recipe. Well that's because it's so damn good that I don't think of taking a picture before I dig in. I'll try to remember to do so next time. Or the time after. Or maybe the time after that...
This is really yummy, and yes, it is done on a shoestring or less budget. It uses things that are in my cupboards because I've gotten them, most of the time, from the food bank (with the exception of the meat and sour cream). A lot of my recipes are like that if you haven't noticed. And that is because some of the time we have to use the food bank.

Ingredients

• 6-8 chicken thighs, skinned
• 1 can concentrated tomato soup
• 3-4 generous tablespoons sour cream
• 1/4 of an onion chopped to taste
• 3+ cloves of minced garlic (or put it through a press)
• about a tablespoon of paprika
• a scant teaspoon of chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons olive (or other) oil, or butter, if available

Equipment

• a large, deep cast-iron skillet
• skillet lid or something to act as one
• a medium bowl
• a good sharp knife
• a garlic press
• a mixing spoon (I actually use a serving spoon most of the time)
• a frying spatula (such as used to flip eggs & etc.)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven on to 350ºF.
2. Warm skillet to medium on stovetop and add oil, spreading thoroughly.
3. Place chicken pieces in to skillet and brown gently. Add onions and garlic and cook until they are softened and translucent.
4. Remove skillet to the oven. Bake chicken for approximately 20 minutes.
5. In the meantime, combine soup, sour cream and spices in the bowl and stir well. Set aside in fridge.
6. When 20 minutes is up, pour the soup/sour cream mixture over meat & onions. Be sure all the meat pieces are coated. Put the lid on the skillet and return to oven.
7. Bake a further 40 minutes at least. Prepare side dish while waiting.
8. Check largest piece of meat for doneness. (Continue cooking for 10 minutes if necessary.)
9. Remove from oven. Serve hot.

In truth you can serve this hot or cold. It's just really dang good! As to the side dish, the traditional thing to have is egg noodles and a very onion-y salad. I've served it over rice, mashed potatoes, even rotini. I have yet to find something it isn't good on. Also, I've used ground beef for this, and even porkchops, though I like to slice them thinly before I cook them. If you use one of these remember that your meat will be completely cooked before you put it in the oven, so you'll skip the initial twenty minute cooking time, put the sauce straight on and bake as usual.

Now remember this is the cheap recipe. The good recipe is actually not that different. You simply replace the soup with 2 cups of tomato juice. I imagine that a large can of tomato sauce would be fine, as well.

I served this for my sister recently. She loved it! I'm not sure it did much for her blood pressure though. I imagine with all that sour cream it probably wouldn't be. I'm hoping she'll comment on this so that I have a glowing testimonial. :D

Happy eating!