NHL Czech Chicken Paprikash with Spaetzel

I made this wonderful dish for the shelter yesterday. This photo is from the last time I made it and used pasta because I forgot to take a picture of yesterday's batch.  I found chicken pieces on sale for 67 cents per pound the other day.  Sixty seven cents for protein is a terrific buy. I am financing this venture on my own so I am really aware of sales these day. Year's ago when Petr Nedved played hockey in the NHL, we were very good friends with he and his family.  One time when his manager was visiting from Calgary, he taught me how to make this dish.  It has been one of my favorites ever since. You can find the recipe here:  http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/search?q=chicken+paprikash

I thought that pumpkin yeast bread would be good to go with the paprikash so I made a bunch of it too.  Find the recipe here: http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2012/09/perfect-pumpkin-bread.html

I bought 30 lbs of chicken.

I made 50 quarts of the soup and all of the bread for less than 50 dollars.

And The Blog Tech helped!

For less than 50 dollars I was able to provide 200 bowls of soup and a slice of good homemade bread to that many people.


I made homemade spaetzel instead of using pasta. It is much cheaper and is actually much better too.  This is my well used spaetzel maker.

You place your spaetzel dough in the cup part and then move it back and forth over the holes.  Small pieces drop into the steaming soup and there you have your spaetzel.  When Nedved and Jagr's moms saw me using this device, they totally flipped out.  They had never seen one before. They always tediously cut the spaetzel by hand.  We bought every single spaetzel maker we could find for them to take back to the Czech Republic. It was like reinventing the wheel!


No one at the shelter had ever heard of chicken paprikash before.  But they could not wait to try it.


They all stood around and smelled the pumpkin bread too.

The meal came out to cost about 27 cents per serving.

Comments

brokenteepee said…
I'm sure they loved it. Chicken paprikash is one of my favorites.

I push my spaetzel through my slotted spoon. Whatever works, right?
March 2, 2013 at 10:07 AM
greekwitch said…
I have n't made pumpkin bread since Samhein! It looks deliciously orange. Now i have to make one!
March 2, 2013 at 10:12 AM
Anonymous said…
This looks very tasty! I'm trying to figure out how cheap that chicken would be in swedish kronor and I think it's reaölly very cheap :-)

Petr Nedved was (or is he still playing? I haven't heard about him in a long while) a great player!

Have a great day!
Christer.
March 2, 2013 at 10:44 AM
Ellen in Oregon said…
I do a lot of geneaology research & when I was looking at a newspaper from 1914 chicken was selling for 49 cents per pound. So, almost 100 yrs, later you were able to find it at only 17 cents more per pound. Slowest inflation rate ever. Back then, maybe because of the war, dairy products & eggs cost 2X what steaks did. Your cost per serving is incredibly low considering the quality of the ingredients.I love spatztel just browned in butter with poppy seeds & parsley. Great to make with leftovers the next day. I have found that spaztle freezes & reheats very well. Your gizmo looks fast & fun to use. My favorite way to eat it is browned in a little butter with parsley. This recipie looks great for a cold day. Thanks for all you do.
March 2, 2013 at 11:46 AM
PansWife said…
Have you thought of teaching cooking classes at your local food pantry? I volunteered at pantries for a few years and noticed that most of the people coming in did not know how to cook a simple, healthy, cheap meal other than pasta with ready made sauce. They would ask us for things like frozen pizza, muffins and canned soup, but if I offered them the ingredients to make such things they looked at me like I was proposing alchemy. At one pantry we started a series of classes that taught people how to make easy dishes from cheap foods like lentils, rice, beans, fresh vegetables on sale, etc plus how to make quick breads. Most didn't know you could make biscuits for pennies instead of buying those awful tube packaged products. You might enjoy "teaching people to fish" as much as making the fist for them. Bon Appetite!
March 2, 2013 at 11:53 AM
Debra She Who Seeks said…
My Mom's family emigrated from Switzerland and she too would make spaetzel when we were kids. She just cut it with a knife as you said. I've never heard of a spaetzel maker either but boy, what a great idea!
March 2, 2013 at 12:14 PM
The Happy Whisk said…
I am Hungarian so I make Hungarian style, but I do use legs as well. I use legs a lot when I cook.

And I love when legs or even marylands go on sale that low. Right now our Tops is running a month long sale on marylands for 69 cent per pound, with very little that needs trimmed.

Anyway, your food looks good.

Num, num.

March 2, 2013 at 1:18 PM
Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said…
Another winning recipe! Something I've never made & will try. I still can't get over the price of that chicken!
March 3, 2013 at 6:11 AM
Carl Belken said…
Can't tell you how happy am, to know of someone who is helping those in need. What you do, it's ripple effect, travels on and on. Gracie
March 3, 2013 at 7:39 AM
Nellie said…
Great buy on your ingredients for soup for that many people! It isn't easy to do.
March 3, 2013 at 10:43 AM
The Happy Whisk said…
My other post didn't show up yet, but I came back to tell you that Tops is running Doublers this week. So they double dollar coupons, and marylands (leg & thighs together), are on sale for 69 cent a pound.

I'm BIG into savings.
March 3, 2013 at 12:16 PM
Margaret said…
You just continue to amaze me. I wish I had your kitchen, and all your pots and all your equipment! :)
March 4, 2013 at 1:51 PM
luckybunny said…
Comfort food to the max. I'm going to try this recipe this week during sugar time, I've been wanting to make spaetzel and this is nice and warm and comforting :) Pumpkin bread included! Perfect!
March 7, 2013 at 6:06 AM
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