Peruvian Garlic-Lime Chicken- Cooks illustrated


 

Tom Raveret

TVWBB Pro
Did anyone else make the Peruvian Garlic-Lime Chicken Recipe in the March-April 2011 issue?

They modified what was traditionally a rotisserie recipe to be coked indoor in an oven on a vertical poultry roaster (a glorified beer can chicken holder).

This could easily be used out on a grill but when I did a pair of these birds on my rotisserie yesterday they were amazing!!!

I started with coleman organic birds from Costco .

The paste has mint leaves lots of garlic, zest and juice from limes and Habenero peppers. It rests in the past from 6-24 hrs (I did the full 24)

Every once in a while I come across a recipe that has a flavor profile that is fantastic!! This is one of those that the Grill or the Rotisserie really make special.

Can't figure out why they just wouldn't write this as an article for the grill?

The mess this would make in an oven would not be worth the cleanup (ok maybe with this flavor it would)

I keep finding more and more of them in Cooks illustrated... another one from the same issue was the ultimate steak sauce which teaches you to make what they call a semi-demi glace in only a couple of hours!!

It was not "hot" and I may increase the habaneros to at least 1.5 what they recommend next time. The peppers actually contiributed to a sweetness with heat it appeared.

My modification was not using smoked paprika because I was using some oak and cherry on top of the charcoal baskets in the rotisserie.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else tried his or madified it?

I still think that the Rotisserie accessory to the 22in grill is one of the best things ever added to a grill.

My dream would be a 26" grill with a rotisserie...ok heck why stop there lets get one on a ranch kettle.. maybe with two spits .... ok I'm going off on a rotisserie rant here better quit while I'm ahead. I know the marketshare is too small for that.
 
I have not tried it Tom, but it is on my list.Thanks for doing the "test", now I know I have to try it. I just was not sure about the taste of mint on chicken.
 
The mint was not overpowering in the rub but really added to an amazing complexity. On a recent visit to one of my favorite Peruvian restaurants in Washington DC El Chalan) the told me the Aja pepper is available in the united states but that they didn't change their recipe from when they first opened in 1981.

Has anyone seen fresh Aja peppers in their markets?

I am curious as to how they compare with the Habenero I like to improvise on a theme and love jazz but have been a long proponent of knowing what the original tune sounded like to understand someones improvisation on it.


Anyways love that taste!!
 
Reading the recipe and this post I'm still not convinced on what they are say the difficult to find Peruvian ingredients are that they are replacing with mint and smoked paprika.

Can't seem to find an "authentic" Peruvian recipe that has anything hard to find in it on my searches. None with aja, one that mentions an aji verde sauce, but they sub for it and don't say what the ingredients would be for it to be "authentic".
 

 

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