Portuguese Peri Peri Chicken Food

PORTUGUESE PERI PERI CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425F
• Rehydrate dried chilies in a small pot of simmering water on the stove for 20 minutes. Remove stem and seeds.
• Butterfly the chicken: Rinse inside and out, removing innards. Pat dry. Place on a cutting board, breast down. Using sharp kitchen scissors, cut along both sides of the spine, remove and discard. Turn the chicken over, and placing your hand on the breast bone, press down hard with the palm of your hand, to flatten.
• Make the marinade by blending the marinade ingredients into a paste with a blender or food processor. Brush a layer of the marinade on the bottom of your large sheet pan.
• Place the thinly sliced potatoes on top of the marinade and sprinkle with a generous pinch of kosher salt, overlapping slightly but not too much.
• Brush all sides and crevasses of the chicken with the marinade, coating fairly heavily. (You will add more marinade during cooking, so be sure to save the remaining.) Place chicken, skin side down on the potatoes and place in the hot oven.
• Turn chicken over after 15 minutes, and place back in the oven. After 15 minutes, brush more marinade all over the chicken on the skin side, really lathering it up. Return to the oven and bake until cooked through another 15-30 minutes, or until leg/ thigh reaches an internal temperature of 165 F. The bigger the chicken, the longer this will take. ( A large, 5-6 pound chicken may take an additional 20 minutes!) To crisp the skin and get it deeply brown, broil for a few minutes. A little char is good here!!! Remove chicken when done and let rest 5-10 minutes before serving. You can continue to cook the potatoes or crisp them up ( with broiler) while resting the chicken and cutting it into pieces.
• While chicken is roasting, combine Cilantro Sauce ingredients together, either in a bowl- mixing by hand, or in a food processor. Serve cilantro sauce on the side.

PORTUGUESE PIRI PIRI CHICKEN

Steps:

• In large glass bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken; mix well.
• Add chicken, turning to coat.
• Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, turning occasionally; can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours if you want to make it ahead.
• Reserving marinade, place chicken, skin side down, on a greased grill over medium heat; close lid and cook for 10 minutes.
• Turn and brush with marinade; cook for 30 to 40 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced.
• For a less spicy version, replace above marinade with Portuguese Paprika Marinade: 1/3 cup dry white wine, 1 tsp grated lemon rind, 3 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce, and 2 cloves of garlic, minced.

PORTUGUESE PIRI PIRI CHICKEN LIVERS

Steps:

• Saute the chopped onion and crushed garlic in olive oil in a large pan.
• Add all ingredients except the wine & chicken livers.
• Add Chicken livers and fry over medium heat until browned.
• Add the white wine and simmer on gentle heat until done.
• Serve with rice or bread.

PIRI PIRI CHICKEN - PORTUGUESE GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place your chicken on a baking tray, season it with the minced garlic and lemon juice. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
• Combine the butter and fresh thyme, then divide the mixture in half. Add each half to under the skin of the chicken breasts. Rubbing it from the outside to make sure the butter is well spread. This will add extra flavour to the breasts and make them more moist. Season the chicken with salt and black pepper, then set it aside.
• Pre-heat your oven to 240 °C. Meanwhile, add the piri-piri sauce ingredients to a food processor, blend everything for a couple of minutes. It should look like a smooth paste but not super liquid.
• Once the oven is hot, add the seasoned chicken. Cook it for 20 minutes, then spread 1/3 of the piri-piri sauce over the whole chicken, put it back in the oven. Repeat the process. Continue roasting until the skin achieves a barbecued look. It should be ready when you poke the chicken, and clear juice runs out of it. It should take around 1h15m total (3x 20min + 15min)
• For the cooling sauce, finely chop your herbs, combine them with Greek yoghurt and the ricotta. Season it with salt, black pepper, and olive oil.
• Serve your chicken with the sides you prefer. I served mine like the Portuguese do, with a simple salad, French fries and, of course, the left over piri-piri sauce!

TRADITIONAL PORTUGUESE PIRI PIRI SAUCE FOR CHICKEN

Steps:

• Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk together.
• Brush on chicken before barbecuing (or baking in oven @ 350 °F for 1.25 hours WITHOUT opening the door during during entire cooking process.) It helps the flavour if you marinate the chicken for a few hours prior to cooking!