Portuguese Chicken Piri Piri Recipes

PIRI PIRI CHICKEN

Steps:

• Use rubber gloves to mince the chiles and place into a mixing bowl. Add cilantro, garlic, vegetable oil, vinegar, lime juice, salt, and black pepper. Mix piri piri sauce well.
• Place chicken breasts and legs into a resealable plastic bag. Pour in piri piri sauce, seal the bag, and shake gently to completely cover chicken. Put the bag in the refrigerator to marinate at least 4 hours.
• Remove bag from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking to allow chicken to come to room temperature.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Remove chicken from the bag; discard bag and cilantro. Cook chicken on the preheated grill, rotating as necessary to cook evenly, until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 25 minutes.

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 HOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Coarsely chop the peppers and discard stems.
• Place the chilis and their seeds, the garlic, lemon juice, salt, and as much of the oil as you wish in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and purée. Pour the mixture into a small glass jar and let steep for several days in the fridge.
• You can strain the mixture and return it to jar, but I like mine with a bit of texture. Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 1 month.

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!

PIRI-PIRI CHICKEN

Steps:

• For glaze:
• Melt butter in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cilantro and garlic; cook until garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add piri-piri sauce and lemon juice. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 2 minutes. DO AHEAD: Glaze can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before using.
• For chicken:
• Finely chop cilantro, ginger, shallot, and garlic in processor. Add piri-piri sauce, 1/4 cup oil, lemon juice, coarse salt, and pepper; process marinade to blend.
• Place chicken, skin side up, on work surface. Using palm of hand, press on breastbone to flatten chicken. Tuck wing tips under. Pour half of marinade into 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Open chicken like book; place skin side down in single layer in dish. Pour remaining marinade over. Cover; chill at least 4 hours or overnight, turning chicken occasionally.
• Remove top rack from barbecue. Prepare barbecue (medium heat). If using 2-burner gas grill, light 1 burner. If using 3-burner gas grill, do not light center burner. If using charcoal grill, light briquettes in chimney and pour onto 1 side of lower grill rack. Place disposable aluminum pan on unlit part of grill. Place upper grill rack on barbecue; brush with oil.
• Remove chicken from marinade. Arrange skin side up on grill rack above drip pan. Cover barbecue; grill until skin is browned and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°F, turning often, about 40 minutes. Transfer to platter. Pour warm glaze over.

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.