So this meal was put together close to 8 pm, which is late to go thinking of dinner to make. When the family takes time to decide what they want for dinner and the number of ideas you get coincide with the number of people in the said family. And every one of those suggestion either turns out takes 3 hours or the ingredients you don’t have. Or the other three don’t want to eat. So after deciding that we order in and then we don’t order in I said okay…. STOP….
off I went rummaging in the fridge. Alright I didn’t have to rummage I had everything.
Excitement already building up because I have been thinking of making something like this a while now. I had a jar of roasted red bell peppers in olive oil. ( recipe below) Which I had made a couple of weeks back.
A jar of hot spicy cilli sauce I made a few days ago ( thehungryhedon s recipe I will leave a link for this below ) I mean it was hot..its just a teaspoon but you will know its there.
You don’t have to have home made for these, a good jar of your favorite brands will work really well.
Boiled Chickpeas, well again it depends on if you are the kind who opens a can or has boiled fresh ready, either way works well. I leave that to you. I had half a pack of brown mushrooms so I though what the hell lets throw these in there too. I actually do love mushrooms in any bake and they do have that beautiful earthy flavor.
If you are ( unlike me) not making this last minute then you can soak and boil jumbo chickpeas with a little salt. They taste really nice. Please salt your food in stages, you don’t need to be heavy handed but season your food so in that final bite, the flavors are even. This gives you time to marinate your chicken too. I use here large cuts of chicken thighs and its on the bone, skin on. Use a whole cut chicken if you want.
I freeze any left over chimichuri sauce in icecube trays and its really helpful for such days. Double the batch for lazy days ahead for quick marinade or salad dressings ( it has garlic mind you)
Ingredients
Chicken - 1 kg Cut , skin on, bone in
Chickpeas - 1 can / 1 cup soaked and cooked
Chilli sauce -1 tsp. Or red chilli flakes or any or your favorite red chilli sauce ( recipe below)
Roasted bell pepper - 2 pcs ( equal to 1 bell pepper) With some of its marinade, sliced
Brown mushrooms - 1/2 pk Sliced
Salt -To taste
Lemon juice - A squeeze - Optional
Olive oil -1 tsp
Chimichuri sauce
parsley - 1 small bunch
Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch
Garlic cloves - 3 cloves
Olive oil - 50 ml
Vinegar- red wine - 3 tbsp
Paprika - smoked ( or any ) - 1-2 tsp
Shallots - 2 small
Salt - To taste
Get the chickpeas ready. Strain and keep aside.
Prepare the chicken and pat dry and keep aside. Keep the skin on. As we are grilling it you want to get a nice crisp top. You can remove it later if you don’t want to eat it.
Get the ingredients for the chimichuri sauce. Always wash the herbs and dry then on a paper towel or kitchen towel.. put all ingredients into the food processor and blitz it till it is nicely emulsified.
Pour it out into a bowl. We might not use all of it.
Use as much of this to marinate the chicken and make sure you coat it well getting the marinade under the skin too. Place these in a glass container with a good tight lid for at least 30 mins in the refrigerator. Keep a little sauce aside for the chickpeas.
On the stove top - get the chickpea ready
Heat a pan, add a tsp of olive oil, add the mushrooms, and toss them till them till they just about soften then add in the chickpeas a teaspoon of this chimichuri sauce a tsp of the chilli sauce and the bell pepper along with its juices. keep aside. Don’t smush the bell pepper we want it to retain its shape. Take of the stove. Just toss them well and keep them aside. taste for salt. Remember taste for salt at every stage.
( you don't have to cook the mushrooms ahead instead just mix them in a bowl with everything and cook it with the chicken later but I find the mushrooms sometimes get weepy later.)
This goes on later when the chicken is half way cooked.
Now preheat the oven to 200 c and lightly grease an a oven proof dish (or a heavy skillet you can do this stove top if you like.)
Place the marinated chicken along with any marinade in the bowl with skin side up.
Grill/ bake till chicken is starting brown , flip over the chicken pieces, there will be juices at the bottom of the dish which is fine. Tip over the chickpeas at this point and spread them out and continue to cook till the chicken is done. Turn the chicken pieces over to brown the top in the end under the grill.
This took 45 mins to be completely done in the oven.
This works well over the stove top too.
Serve with a salad, polenta or a flavored rice
so chimichuriii.... I just like saying it. I have tried this many times. Works beautifully on stove top or the oven. have used shrimps, chicken and lamb chops.. it works just as beautifully.
Happy cooking.
Roasted bell peppers
Wash, wipe bell peppers. Cut in half and remove seeds.
Line a baking tray with Silpat or a parchment (makes it easier to wash up).
Place them cut side down. Drizzle a little oil on them. Very little and rub with fingers to coat them.
Place them under the grill in your oven for 15 mins or so till all charred and blistered. Turn the tray around in between if needed. They would hav softened by now. If not then give them 5 mins more and keep an eye on them.
If you feel the need to turn them over then do so but they don't really need it.
pull them out and place them in a glass bowl and cover with a lid. this helps build steam and helps peel them easily. After about a half hour. check and peel them.
In a clean and dry mason jar, just large enough to hold the peppers, pour a little vinegar at the bottom of the jar and sprinkle a little salt. swirl it around. You can cut the bell peppers in strips or leave them in large halves as they are. Place the bell peppers inside the jar and press them gently down so there is no air pocket.once all the peppers are in the top the jar with olive oil which should be just the top 1/4th portion or less of the jar not more. close and place in the fridge. This can last up to 2-3 weeks.
You can use this to make pesto, hummus, in sandwiches, in wraps, in bakes, in salads . A really good way to use up any extra peppers you have lying around too.
for Nicoles hot chilli sauce
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