I have tons of cookbooks. I love cookbooks and I’m also very prejudice about them. While I have many that are just words – no pictures, I love the ones that have pictures, because, news flash, there is no denying it, we eat with our eyes first.

In most cases, if it looks good, your instinct is to automatically think that it will taste good. (refer to picture above)

And we dive in.

So for those cookbook authors out there… make PICTURES your friend.

This unfairness towards cookbooks with pictures has gotten out of control over the years because when I say I have tons of cookbooks, I mean it, I must have over 150, if not more.

What can I say, cookbooks, like eating a whole jar of Nutella in one sitting, are my guilty pleasures.

And when you have those guilty pleasures you soon learn very fast to curve them, or they will just swallow you whole or make you blow up like a balloon – and not in a pretty way.

So for my Nutella habit, I have learned to treat myself to a small jar of Nutella once every three month and make Tom swear on what is whole and holy that it must last us a whole three month.

And for my cookbook habit I go to the local bookstore to browse the cookbook section to get my fix, instead of racking up a HUGE charge from amazon.com, and make Tom swear on what is whole and holy that I cannot get another cookbook even if my life depended on it.

But, last month during my monthly stakeout therapeutic visit at the local B&N, I came across The Illustrated Kitchen Bible and The Illustrated Quick Cook.

And five minutes in, I wanted them… ohhh, so very, very, VERY bad.

And I tried, very, very VERY hard to talk my way out of getting them, right there and there. I called Tom, who talked me down and made me see the light by saying something or other about “..Not having enough money to pay for them and … something, something” I lost track, I was too busy salivating and counting to 10.

And then I crumbled and searched for them on my amazon.com application on the phone and damn if the universe was not playing tricks on me, but they were almost 30% off, and If I bought the two of them together an extra 10% off and free shipping.

FOR.REAL? How can you just pass something like FREE SHIPPING BY?

I wimped out and bought them – DAMN YOU AMAZON! And my iPhone that makes it way too easy to shop on the spot.

I got them last week, and spend most of my 4-day lazy fest marking off all of the recipes that I wanted to cook from them. With a combined 1000 pages between both books, I must have marked over 300 to try - can you sense A LOT of post coming your way?

So, Monday as the previous posted baby cheesecakes were in the refrigerator just chilling, I open the Kitchen Bible and zoomed into this recipe, it was perfect – a stew, I could put it together and forget about it for 45 minutes.

Chicken Paprikash
Adapted from: The Illustrated Kitchen Bible

2 tbsp vegetable oil
8 chicken thighs
2 small red onions, slice
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp caraway seeds
1 cup hot chicken stock
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
9 oz cherry tomatoes
Chopped parsley, to garnish
Sour cream, to serve

Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs, which were seasoned generously with salt and pepper before hand, skin side down to the pre-heated pan. Cook about 3 minutes until the skin is golden. Turn and brown the other sides, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions to the fat in the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are softened. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the paprika and the caraway seeds and stir for 1 minute. Return the chicken to the pan.

Mix together the stock, vinegar, tomato paste, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the chicken. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. The sauce should reduce to the point of creamy and thick and not too soupy. Mine, cooked in low-medium heat fro about 45 minutes.

Add the cherry tomatoes to the casserole and shake vigorously to mix them into the sauce, at this point take a taste of the stew and season with salt and pepper if needed. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot with sour cream on the side for each diner to help themselves.

Served with Rice or Mashed potatoes, because the yummy sauce calls out to be pour over any of those side ingredients.

Tips/Suggestions:

If you prepare all ingredients ahead of time (Slice, onions, chop garlic, prepare the stock, vinegar, paste, sugar mixture), this will be simmering on the stove in less than 10 minutes.
I did not have red wine vinegar, so I used a combination of 1 Tbs of balsamic vinegar with 1 tbs red wine, and I think it came out much better.
I also did not use 8 chicken thighs, I had a pack of 4 (pretty large) and did not change any of the amount, and I could not tell the difference.
We ate this the next day and it was even better, so the next time I make this, I may cook it one day ahead, and hold off adding the parley until after I reheat it and serve it.