Our Romanian feast has continued through the weekend, and today, fine friends, I bring you Pui Cu Smantana Acra, or Sour Cream Chicken. One word: YUM - this is a great meal. My friend told me the traditional way is to serve it with Sarmale, which is cabbage rolls...and which I plan to make soon. But we just went the plain Jane way - chicken alone.
Pui Cu Smantana Acra
1 lg. chicken, 5 - 6 lbs, cut into pieces
1/4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 pint sour cream
1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced thin
3 whole spring onions, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp Hungarian Paprika (I had to use regular - couldn't find Hungarian where I live)
1/4 c water
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, brown chicken in butter. Place in casserole dish. Make roux* from butter, flour and water; stir until light brown. Cool roux; add sour cream and simmer until bubbly. (Sour cream will curdle if the roux is not cooled.) Add chopped veggies; sprinkle with spices. Cover chicken and cook until tender. Serves 6 - 8.
The only variations I made to this meal was cooking it in my big cooker, so it took much longer - approximately 4 hours or so. I also forgot to add the bell peppers, unfortunately.
Otherwise, it was a real crowd pleaser. We had it for lunch yesterday, and there is literally scraps left today. Definitely try this one - you'll be hooked!
*For all of you who do not know how to make roux: On medium to med. high heat, melt fat in pan (in this case, butter), spoon in flour and water, stirring to incorporate. Using the bent edge of the spoon, move it around slowly until the flour is cooked and the roux begins to change colors.
In New Orleans cooking, you won't use water and the roux should be the color of a brick; for this recipe's purposes, the water loosened the mixture up and I stopped when it was the color of khaki. I know, I know - that sounds goofy, but I couldn't think of an example of the light brown color other than clothes.
