The Joys of Peri-peri Chicken

Again, an apology for the very long time I have written something for the blog. It’s not that I have not been cooking or wanting to cook. But let’s face it. Only when there is a working oven, gas range and the dishwasher that one can cook.

So October last year was when due to personal reasons, we were thinking of moving somewhere else. But to cut a long story short, plans were changed - again - and this time to stay. With all our stuff in boxes anticipating a move, it was the time that we decided to remodel some parts of the house - specifically the master bath and, guess what, the kitchen. After all, the master bathroom floor creaks and the fixtures are getting grimy and slimy while the kitchen appliances are going into some form of disrepair. Did I tell you that the microwave oven motor stopped turning when it was just barely two years old? And the grease! With a kitchen vent that is more of a filter circulator rather than a real vent, steak searing and wok cooking is simply a fatty catastrophe - for the second floor that is. With all the grease and dust combined and deposited on the furnishings, it took loads of orange cleaner and Pledge just to dissolve them.

But anyway, here to share to you the look of the new kitchen are some photos.

Overall kitchen. So I changed the range and installed
a kitchen hood as well.

Range features six burners (old one had four)
and the front burners gives a whopping 23,000 BTU's!

Range hood can really such all the smoke!
Say goodbye to loud smoke alarms and
rooms smelling like curry!

Beautiful flame. See the middle? Has small
flames as well giving out equal heat.

And the heat is just so radiant that it
"kisses" the edge of the pan.

Still a double oven. But the features are far
more advanced. Three different styles of
convection cooking!

Strong build. The baking racks are roller guided.

And now for the first recipe with the new kitchen.

The Joys of Peri-Peri.

Peri-peri Chicken, that is. I first tasted the delicious dish about a year ago when I visited my brother in Southampton, Southern England where his daughter attends the university there for fine arts. Mike; however, was able to taste it even earlier owing to his work that required frequent travel. Because I actually did not know what it was all about, I just googled the recipe and made a makeshift sauce marinade and proceeded cooking it. And although it was fine, it wasn't great. I could not see the fascination with it and cannot taste the spices - probably because the technique could be better and the spices need to be woken up plus probably it wasn’t enough in the first place.

Seared or roasted, the cooking requires high temperature to
ensure the spices are caramelized and the flavors
woken up.

The time that I was taken to a Peri-Peri Chicken Restaurant, that was the time when it blew my taste buds. The fact of the matter is that Peri-Peri needs to be spicy with a tingling sensation of peppers not placed after the cooking as most condiments are, but rather before as a marinade. And with the proper application of fire - think coals and barbeque - these spices are just woken up to give that tingle with the sensation of excitement that bites the tongue. It is this that one needs to make great peri-peri.

Now the origin is something I learned from just googling Wikipedia. It refers to the peppers which were imported by the Portuguese to the African continent whose native peoples used it as a spice to create a marinade to season meat which is then roasted. The ingredients of this marinade could differ from one cook to the other but what is important is the pepper. The pepper itself is the Capiscum chinense which looks like the Thai chili or in the Filipino counterpart, siling labuyo. Its heat intensity was qualified to be 4 out of 5 which is said to be “very hot”. That said, this is a very important characteristic of the dish.

In addition, Peri-Peri is also spelled as Pili-Pili which meant “Pepper-Pepper” in Swahili. And therefore, rightly more refers to the sauce made with peppers. So, think of a hot sauce, essentially.

But the sauce varies from cook to cook. And there is no one way of making it. What is imperative though is the pepper. And according to Wikipedia, “ It is made from crushed chillies, citrus peel, onion, pepper, salt, lemon juice, bay leaves, paprika, pimiento, basil, oregano, and tarragon. Recipes vary from region to region but the common ingredients are chilli, lemon, oil and red bell peppers.”

The next thing I noticed is that in one recipe, I saw the use of ginger which I must admit is not alien to the eastern palate. Ginger has this very tingly and aromatic quality that when subjected to heat, especially a good high temperature sear or coal roasting would even reveal more of its character. It’s used to remove the gamey flavor of meats and considering that this could be the case in some African cooking, would make it a vital ingredient.

To balance the hotness, something cool is needed. Hence the use of a sour point such as lemons. In some recipes, I have seen the use of lime along with lemon.

Spices are usually peppercorns which I believe obviously complimentary with peppers. The rest are more of dimensional spices or those that give it its bent whether that is tarragon, thyme, oregano, onions, laurel leaves or cilantro. I have used cilantro once before as that’s what was called for. It is interesting but whether it is an absolute need is debateable.

But after the discussion of spices - for me the barest minimum are the following: Hot peppers, peppercorns and ginger. In my recipe, I thought to just go basic and add the end all of cooking - garlic.

Next - oil. I think this is what makes it unique. Two things. First, by virtue of absorption, oil marinades penetrate better with meats due to its fat content. Fat dissolves in fat. Hence, the flavors get to penetrate quickly. Second, let’s admit it. Fat makes sauces taste better. I mean, there’s a reason why we love mayonnaise and it’s not the eggs, or the mustard or the vinegar and salt. Rather it's the oil made into one emulsion.

And this is where the blender comes in. Using a blender, the chillies and spices would be ground to a fine mash, mixed with the lemon juice and oil, all that goodness would be blended into one flavor explosion. Proper heat application and subsequent caramelization would even wake it further.

Peri-peri Chicken Breasts (In an Oven!)

• 4 large chicken breasts, deboned and flayed to about ¾ inch thickness. (Any cut will do but be sure it is deboned. Chicken takes longer to cook if bones are intact and therefore, my technique would result in raw chicken.)
• 3 big hot chillies or 5 medium ones or 10 small ones. (Now actually it depends on the “hotness level” so it is “to taste”.)
• 1 tablespoon peppercorns
• 5 cloves or ½ head of garlic, peeled
• 2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, peeled
• Salt to taste
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 1 cup vegetable or olive oil

1. Make the marinade. In a blender, combine the chilies, garlic, ginger, salt and peppercorns. Using the pulse button, chop the ingredients until fine and add the lemon juice. Turn the setting to blend.
2. When the mixture begins to blend in a pulp, slowly add with a stream with the blender on, olive or vegetable oil. The higher the speed, the better as the mixture turns into an emulsion somewhat similar to mayonnaise dressing.
3. Pour this mixture to the chicken breasts to marinate. Cover and let it sit for about six hours, best overnight.
4. Roast the breasts over high heat and preferably coals, until done. Serve with a good basting of the leftover marinade.
5. Now - for the technique using your oven.
6. The key is high heat! That said, the over has to be prepared and preheated to at least 400 degrees. Once that is achieved, we can proceed cooking. Now - disclaimer - you are going to make a lot of smoke! So be sure the ventilation is adequate and open your windows!
7. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. And flay the chicken breasts as a single layer.
8. With the oven grille at the highest position, place the cookie sheet and switch the oven temperature to broil. In ovens with different degrees of broiling, I noticed that the medium setting is enough. Leave this for about 8-10 minutes until caramelized with bits of char.
9. The cooking will create meat juices. Pour this out before turning. Then cook the second side for half of the time of the first.
10. Remove from the oven pouring the leftover drippings on the chicken and basting them with marinade. Serve hot.

Tip.

You can also use chicken pieces in its bone. The cooking would be longer; hence the temperature needs to be a bit lower (about 375) and broiling would be done in the final minutes of cooking. Chicken thighs and legs are the best for they contain loads of fat and hence, flavor. Usually, bake the first side for forty minutes and turn to bake the second for thirty. Then broil to a brown with char for the last ten. But this would always depend on your oven’s ability to retain heat and the size of the chicken pieces. To assure even cooking, same size portions are advised. (Hence, all leg quarters or all thighs or all legs etc.)