Portuguese Chicken Piri Piri Recipes

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 CHICKEN PIRI-PIRI

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Add the onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and saute until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes.
• Add the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, thyme, and piri-piri sauce and bring to a boil. Ladle about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid into a small pot and set aside. Place the rice in the bottom of a large baking dish. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to the baking dish and add the liquid from the skillet.
• Bake tightly covered in a preheated 350F oven until the rice is cooked, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the reserved liquid and add the lime juice and additional piri-piri sauce to taste. Serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the rice, and serve the additional sauce separately.

PORTUGUESE CHICKEN IN PIRI PIRI SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients for the marinade together. If you find it annoying crushing up the garlic you can buy it pre crushed from the shops.
• Use a sharp knife cut chicken into six pieces so that you have the breast and lower part of the chicken as well as the 4 drumsticks and wings, (visualize the look of the chicken at Nando's). Cut off any excess fat but leave most of the skin as it will add to the flavor.
• Make several small incisions into the chicken to later help it absorb the marinade.
• Bask the chicken well in the marinade and allow it to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
• Meanwhile mix the Piri Piri seasoning with the lemon juice and the oil. You can find Piri Piri seasoning easily from the shops and it saves you having to chop if 10-12 red chillies and chop up a bay leaf and such, just makes the process a lot simpler. Also add a pinch of salt.
• Pre heat the grill and insert the chicken. Bask the chicken frequently with any excess marinade.Turn the chicken frequently and make sure it doesn't burn.Cook for approximately 30 minutes.
• Remove the chicken from the grill/BBQ and allow it to cool before lathering it in the Piri Piri sauce. Serve with potatoes and what ever else you desire.
• Charcoal grill or BBQ preferred but gas grill works almost as well.
• Seven easy steps to Heaven!

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.