Homemade Hungarian Pork Paprikash with Galuska

 

Looking for a hearty meal that will stick to your ribs? Something after working all day long, or on a bitter cold evening? Man, Hungarian pork paprikash and galuska, also known as Spätzle, will certainly fill that need.

I've been eating galuska since I was a young child. My mom would make it frequently as a quick and easy side to accompany many dishes. However, in all my years, I never bothered to really look into where the dish came from, and even today it was more so a happy coincident to make it and discover that it was indeed a Hungarian dish.

Well, today it's recipe time at The Toy Box, and I'm going to show you how to make a unique meal that is full of flavor, heartiness and will give you that warm tummy feeling.

First and foremost, let's get that pork going. Unlike many of my recipes I've shown you, you won't need to marinade this one, so you don't have to start a full day in advance. However, you are going to need at least two and a half hours. You're also going to need between three and four pounds of pork chops. Thin cut, thick cut, bone in, bone out, it doesn't matter. You just want to make sure that whatever you buy can fit into a large skillet with a lid.

Ingredients

3 - 4 Pounds Pork Chops
1/2 Cup Flour
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 Cup Dry Sherry
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Bay Leaf

In a large bag, combine your flour and salt / pepper. For me, I use one part salt to two parts pepper, and this equates to about 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons pepper, but again, season to taste. Once they're all in the bag, seal it, and give it a good shake to incorporate it.

One at a time, add your pork chops and give it a good shake. You want to ensure each chop is fully coated before adding another.

In a large skillet, remember, with a lid, add just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. I use olive oil personally. Let this heat up over medium high heat, and when hot, add your pork.

Lower your temp to medium, and cook each chop for about five to seven minutes on each side. You're not looking to cook them fully, only get a nice golden brown on each side.

While your pork is getting happy in the pan, take a large measuring cup and combine the sour cream, heavy whipping cream, sherry, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and paprika. Give it a good stirring to mix it all up.

Once they're done browning, remove them from the pan. Now you can certainly leave that oil and drippings in the pan, and I suppose there's something to be said about the flavor it may add. However, for me, I give my pan a quick cleaning. 

I then reduce the heat to low, and return the pan to the stove, adding the sauce mixture to it, which I place one bay leaf on top.

Add the pork chops back to the pan, giving them flip a couple times to coat them in the sauce. Then place a lid on the pan and let it go for two hours.

You do want to check this periodically to ensure that your pan maintains its liquid, and things don't burn. Don't remove the lid, just give it a swirl to see that everything is okay. If it's not, you unfortunately need to make more sauce, and ensure your burner isn't up too high. However, if you follow this, things should go well for you.

After letting this simmer for two hours, it's time to make the galuska. This recipe is so simple.

Ingredients

2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Before you even start mixing anything, start yourself a hot pot of water, seasoned with salt, to boil. You will need a fairly large one to allow your galuska to move and breath.

In a large bowl, measure out your flour and salt, and in the middle of it create a well by pushing things to the side. Add your eggs and cream, and stir everything together. I use a wooden spoon for this, but you could use your hands if you want to get down and dirty with it. You could probably even use a mixer with a paddle on low speed if you really wanted to go for the minimal effort effect.

You're not looking for glue consistency, but you're also not looking for kneed-able dough. Somewhere in the middle, and kind of chunky.

Now, there are plenty of ways to do this next step, and none of them are wrong. The bottom line here is get dough to boiling water. If you have the money and love cooking gadgets, you can buy yourself a spatzel maker. This is essentially a metal well on top of a hand grater. Alternatively, you could push the dough through a colander with large slots. My mom would use two spoons that she would grab a bit out with one, and scrape off into the water with another. As for me, I'm using a piping bag (or a Ziplock bag works too).

Whatever your preference, get the dough in pieces into your boiling water. As I squeeze my bag, I'm pinching off one inch sections. Thickness doesn't matter either. Galuska is typically thicker than spatzel, but since it all comes from the same dough, it ultimately tastes the same.

Just let it boil for three to five minutes, giving it an occasional stir. It will tell you when it's done by rising to the top. I let all of mine rise to be sure.

Simply remove them from the water, and give them a good shake.

This is a versatile side dish that can be mixed with any number of herbs, sauces or both. As for me, I'm dicing a medium onion, and throwing this in the pot with 1/2 a stick of butter.

After letting the onions brown up a bit, I add some pepper, and toss this all with the galuska to thoroughly coat it. Then I let is sit on the heat a moment longer to give the galuska themself a little browning.

The pork is all ready to go too, and I like to serve it over a pile of galuska. Alternatively, you can shred the pork and mix it all up in that sauce to make a Hungarian meat sauce of sorts. You could also add a slurry and thicken it up a bit. It's very versatile.

And also incredibly hot...

...But, also delicious. If you're hungry after this meal, see a doctor. I was stuffed half way though my plate.

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