Grandpa's Chicken Paprikash
My Grandma and Grandpa Seigfried
posted by Sue Freeman 05-20-98 7:00 AM
Each of my grandparents loved me and gave me so much. But the last few days
my maternal Grandpa has been on my mind so much I have to do something to
try to validate his presence although he has been gone since 1978.
I was so lucky to have him in my life. I remember my grandpa so vividly
that I swear sometimes I see him in other people. When someone wears that
furry Russian type hat....or a red and black checkered winter jacket...or
some blue polyester pants...It is him. OK..he was no fashion plate. hahahah
He was an immigrant from Germany but no one ever had such a zest for life
as my grandfather. No one could rally people together in having fun just
by his presence as my grandpa.
He played the accordian... and he tried to teach me to play too... but some
thing happens to girls during puberty that makes it difficult to hug an
accordian and play it. It can get painful. hahahahahaha
WE lived with my grandparents for many years and when we moved a block
away I would still go over EVERY morning to have breakfast with grandpa
and EVERY Sunday after church I would run over and listen to Grandpa play
his accordian on the front porch and listen to him yell.... "Hey...ya ya ya
ya ya" when he played polka's.
My grandpa was good. He landed a radio program here and played on the radio
live. (Am I giving my age away?) I could sit for hours and listen to him
tell his stories of Germany and how when he was a little boy he ran away
from home because of a very nasty stepmother who beat him.
He was 8 years old. He walked about 25 miles and some kind man found him
and took care of him for a couple days until he found out where he lived.
During that time he gave my grandpa a "button box" to play and when he
took my grandpa home he let him keep it. You have to understand that
traveling back then was a big deal. It wasn't so mobile as it it now ...
and finding people 25 miles away wasn't easy either. But that is how my
grandpa got his love of music.
But every Sunday my grandpa would make Chicken Paprikash and I would elp
him make it. He was as good a cook as my grandmother and they argued all
the time over how to make this. Grandma was Hungarian/German and actually
they were third cousins and didn't know that until they were married for 12
years. In fact I have a picture of my Grandmother's mother holding my
grandfather at a funeral while pregnant with my grandmother.
Coming to the states separated families.
So here is my grandpa's version of Chicken Paprikash...
Grandpa's Chicken Paprikash
1 whole chicken (they used whatever chicken they could get)
2 large onions chopped
2 large stalks celery chopped
Hungarian Paprika
a pinch of saffron
salt and pepper
water
dumplings or noodles, cooked
Cut up pieces of chicken so the bones are broken. You want smaller pieces of chicken and the bone
exposed and broken.
Saute the onion and celery til tender in a little oil. Remove from pan.
Dry the chicken well and then put in a hot pan and lightly brown on all
sides and I mean LIGHTLY.
Add onions and celery.. and add just enough water to cover chicken.
I can't tell you how much paprika to add...but you want enough to make a
nice orange color. Add saffron and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let
simmer til chicken is falling off the bone.
Now my grandpa didn't take the skin off and the reason for cracking the
bones and exposing them is that the marrow in the bone gives the chicken
stock a flavor you can't duplicate with artifical flavoring or canned
stock. I do take off the skin now...but it doesn't taste the same.
The old country people loved their fat and grease. I grew up with it so I
love it too. But I have eliminated a lot of it from my diet. I have found
however if you make it the day before with the skin...chill it and scrape
off the solid fat that rises to the top... you still get a GREAT flavor as
it marinates and "marries" overnight.
Now... My grandma and grandpa differed here.
Hungarians like sour cream added... germans don't. I like it both ways.
Put over dumplings or noodles.
Thanks for letting me remember my grandpa. I was always told if you think
of the dead they want you to pray for them. I have prayed and prayed for
grandpa but it is just like him to not be satisfied with that...but he
would be with this. :) He loved to be the center of attention and he didn't
have to work at it. He was like a magnet and just was so full of life and
joy and happiness no matter what that everyone couldn't help but love him.
My grandpa left reels and reels of him playing the according and singing
with grandma. In it he sings his song to me "You are my sunshine." I have
those reels transferred onto tapes and I play them often.
Grandpa... I love you. NOW will you leave me alone for a couple days?
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