Chicken with Red Pepper Sauce

Instructions

You will need a broiler or stove top burners to broil the peppers, a mortar and pestle or small food processor to make the sauce, and a baking pan to cook the chicken. People with sensitive skin and/or contact lens wearers should take care when handling hot peppers; gloves are advisable.

As always * denotes a resting point in the recipe.

Ideally 4-24 hours before cooking:

Place chicken in baking pan.

Broil the fresh peppers, either under the broiler or on your stove burners, until the skins are blackened. Allow to cool until you can safely handle them.

*

Peel peppers over a bowl or dish to catch juices, removing stems, ribs, and deseeding. This is a sticky job, and it’s tempting to run the peppers under water. Try to avoid this, as water washes away the tasty caramelized stuff, too. Then again, who can see you?

If using dried hot chili pepper, tear and de-seed if desired, or leave seeds in according to preference. Add to dish with fresh peppers.

*

Place fresh peppers, dried hot chile pepper, garlic, salt, and coriander into a mortar and pestle or bowl of small food processor. Pound or process to a lumpy paste. Add just enough olive oil to smooth the mixture; taste for lemon juice and salt. Process until blended but not oily.

Pour pepper mixture over chicken, cover and refrigerate 4-24 hours. Or cook immediately.

*

To cook the chicken:

about an hour before baking, remove chicken from refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C

Bake chicken for an hour or more, checking at 20 minute mark for dryness. If necessary, add 2-4 tablespoons water, broth, Vermouth, or white wine. Chicken should not need covering.

My chicken thighs were large and needed 70 minutes of cooking; when I made wings and drummettes they needed 40 minutes, while boneless skineless breasts needed only about 25 minutes cooking.

Check for doneness by slicing chicken near bone: juices should run clear, and meat should be light tan, not pink.

Sprinkle finished dish with fresh cilantro, if desired.

Serve Chicken with Red Pepper Sauce with additional pepper sauce, if desired, crisp lettuce leaves, sliced tomato, sliced onion, and good bread. It also goes well with starchy dishes like flatbread, rice, or pasta.

Leftovers keep, refrigerated, up to four days. Freezing is possible, but not recommedned, as chicken will become soggy and pepper sauce will lose lustre.

Notes:

As noted in the post, any cut of chicken will work in this recipe, but bone-in, skin on chicken is ideal. I recommend thighs, wings, or a whole small chicken.

Boneless cuts of chicken may be prepared stovetop in a deep, lidded saucepan; add a little olive oil, all the pepper sauce,  and cook over medium-low heat. Watch chicken carefully to ensure it doesn’t overcook.

Spice lovers take heed: a marinade containing hot peppers will grow hotter with time. If you plan to marinate the chicken overnight and want a spicy sauce, season with a lighter hand. You can always add more later. Should disaster strike, overspiced dishes can be saved by adding dairy–yogurt, cream, milk, half-and-half, and a few small potatoes. (This just happened to me last night. Judicious amounts of half-and-half and some Yellow finns tamed a Thai curry that, left overnight, had grown inedibly incendiary.)

Again: please consider wearing gloves when handling hot peppers.  I wipe my countertops and sink using a spray bottle filled with white vinegar. If you detest white vinegar’s smell, cut it with lemon oil or fresh lemon juice. It’s cheap,

If you do get hot pepper in your eyes–or elsewhere–flush repeatedly with cool water. It’s unpleasant, but that’s all. If you eat red pepper and feel death is imminent, extinguish the fire with a big mouthful of rice.