French has a wonderful blog – here’s the link – that I follow and enjoy so very much, in addition to his first book Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society, which I blogged about last year. The book is the story of three older gentlemen who form a paranormal group and go ghost-hunting, only to find that there are spirits and specters more terrifying in life and death than they ever would have thought possible. They do battle with the titular character Maledicus, a wonderfully evil and thoroughly nasty and despicable spirit who was just as bad when he was alive, and it is overall a wonderful, fast-paced and adventuresome book.
Being a book and food aficionado and having combined these two in my own blog, I was very pleased with the number of cooking and foodie references in Maledicus, and was happy to see that Charles French had decided to pay homage to his characters and their love of food and create this cookbook filled with delicious recipes from the characters in the book. What I like about French’s characters is that they are all so different and yet have the same love of cooking, though they all create different types of cuisine based on their own lifestyles, backgrounds, and abilities. The main character, Roosevelt Franklin, is a widower whose wife Sarah passed away. She was quite the gourmet cook, often making him lots of delectable meals that he would never attempt after her death, missing her so terribly as he does. It’s odd, because although Sarah is dead, she is as much a character in death as anyone else in the book.
This marvelous little cookbook has such culinary delights as Carrot Cake, Grape and Walnut Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing, Chicken Parmigiana, Quiche Lorraine, and other yumminess, all made by the various other characters in the book. Two main characters and the other two original members of the Investigative Paranormal Society, Jeremy Roche and Sam Sadlowski, are also quite good cooks in their own ways, though rather different in their methods. Jeremy is much more refined than Sam, who’s a retired police officer and whose tastes run to the Hungarian classics of his own family background. Two of the recipes I most wanted to try in this book are both Sam’s.
I limit my carbohydrate intake most of the time, so I decided to make Sam’s Hungarian Green Beans and Chicken Paprikash, omitting the noodles or rice that traditionally go with this type of dish, and the green beans provided a very nice contrast. The only things I did differently were to add some lemon and more salt to the green beans and cut down the sour cream and heavy cream somewhat to make it lighter; and to use red bell peppers and smoked paprika for the Chicken Paprikash, simply because I prefer their flavors instead.
INGREDIENTS
For the Chicken Paprikash:
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, preferably organic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped into long slices
2 onions, peeled and diced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 14-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 cups sour cream
For the Hungarian Green Beans:
2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed
1 large onion, sliced
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 cup paprika
1 generous tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
Poach the chicken for 10 minutes, then pat dry, before shredding.
In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil and add half the smoked paprika so that the oil looks red, and saute the vegetables for 10 minutes.
Add the canned tomatoes, a dash of salt and pepper, and stir again to mix. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed with more paprika, salt or pepper.
Add the chicken chunks, cover and simmer on low for up to 2 hours.
After 1 and 1/2 hours, add in the sour cream and taste again. Let heat, but don’t let the cream curdle.
During the last half-hour of the Paprikash’s cooking, par-boil the green beans for two minutes in salted water, then immediately blanch in ice water. You want them still a bit crunchy and with their green color intact.
Saute the onion in a bit of oil and some salt, until softened and slightly starting to caramelize. Just keep an eye on it and keep stirring.
Mix together the heavy cream, the sour cream and the paprika, and add in the cooled green beans.
Add in the sauteed onions and the paprika, stir to mix well, and taste. Add the lemon juice here as well as the salt and pepper, and taste. Adjust seasoning as needed. NOTE: this is rather bland so I would recommend more salt and more lemon, for certain.
Serve together, and enjoy with a nice, full-bodied red wine like Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon, and toast the culinary genius of Sam Sadlowski! And a most sincere thank-you to Charles F. French, who created these wonderful characters and recipes. Check out his blog and give the man some love and kudos! And a huge thank you to Charles French for writing this wonderful cookbook and giving me much more cooking inspiration! If you get a chance, head over to his awesome blog and show him and his writing some extra love and attention!
Your blog is beautiful! Thanks for liking my post about the crispy potato tacos. By the way, there is a series called “Taco Chronicles” on Netflix. It’s filmed in Mexico and each episode explores a different type of taco, al pastor, carnitas. etc. It’s a lot of fun.
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Thank you for that recommendation! I’ll have to look it up. Sounds right up my alley.
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I’ve been meaning to pick up Charle’s book. This is a good reminder, Vanessa. 🙂 And the dish looks amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
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I think you’ll enjoy all of his books! The only one left for me to read is Gallows Hill. I’ll likely blog about it down the road. 🙂 Thank you for the compliment, too!
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Oh what fun!!! I enjoy Charles French’s blog too!!! Great post!!!
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Thank you!!
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Nice to read a review of a well fellow blogger Author; Charles French, and the delicious treats that his book inspired you. 🙂
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Thank you so much! French is a great writer and this cookbook was so fun to blog!
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Yayyy paranormal food!!!
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Right? Nothing better than ghostly cuisine.
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Thank you for the great review! Love the recipes too. Michael
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Thank you so much!
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You too for the wonderful review! Michael
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Great post! I enjoyed it.
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Thank you! I’m so glad you did!
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Charles is an excellent writer and has an entertaining blog. This recipe looks delicious. Sharing.
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Yes, he is a terrific writer! I quite agree. Thank you!
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I could not agree more. Thank you for sharing.
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Reblogged this on charles french words reading and writing and commented:
Thank you so much to Vanessa at https://foodinbooks.com for her review and blog on my book–The Investigative Paranormal Society Cookbook! I am honored!
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Thank you so much! I am honored!
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Thank you for putting this book together! I really enjoyed it.
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You are so very welcome! And thank you!
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Once again, you’ve provided a deliciously tempting recipe here–and thank you so much for the book review. I love paranormal/ghost stories. I always thought they should combine ghost tours and food tours in cities. I think they would be a huge hit–dining in haunted restaurants/bars–ordering the spirits’ favorite dishes and spirits–that kind of thing. As long as nothing really terrifying happened. Then, it wouldn’t go over so well, I guess. Maybe there’s a reason why these things aren’t combined. In any case, great post–and cheers!
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I think that is an amazing idea! Perhaps we should look into collaborating on something like that because I think it would go over very well. Thank you as always for commenting!
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I think that is an excellent idea!
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Wow that looks soooo good! Great idea!
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Thank you so much!
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looks and sounds amazing, thank you so very much for sharing! 🙂
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Thank you! It’s a great cookbook and story!
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🙂
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More for my “to read” list and that looks delicious! Here in Toledo my introduction to Paprikash came from Tony Packos (made famous from Klinger in M*A*S*H) and my mom eventually made some at home. Those beans!!!
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