Pollo ala Brassa, aka 'Peruvian Chicken'

[edhead35]

Glad it worked out. :-)

[mike.stavlund]

I went ahead and made chicken and potato salad anyway, to rave reviews.  One woman came up to me in broken English and told me the 'pollo ala brassa' was very, very good.  I pressed her for some help with the flavors, and she insisted it was perfect.
"Doesn't it need more salt, though?" I asked.
"Yes, more salt," she said with a smile. 

I marinated this time for about 4 hours, and it could have gone longer.  I also substituted brandy for the white wine in Ed's recipe, and added a big pinch of oregano to the marinade.  Also upped the salt by 50%, but it could have used a little bit more. 



This time, I just grabbed an old food grate to elevate the coals up next to the food.  Which allowed me to put the drip pan down on the bottom grate for better radiant heat.  I also foiled off 2/3 of the coal grate to alter the air flow over the coals and food.  Turned the top vent to move the heat over the food.  Plain lump with no smoke wood.



Finished product, ready to rest:


I also made the spicy sauce that gummi pointed me to.  Roasted the jalepenos first, which took away some of the heat and sweetened them up a bit.  Paired with the mayo-and-lime sauce, it was really nice.

I'm thinking we should prevail upon Marty to make some kind of schwag for picnics and potlucks like this.  Maybe a WKC badge on a little signpost that could sit on the table to let folks know why the food tastes so danged good.  Or maybe a WKC nameplate where the cook could write a description of the food.  Or maybe a WKC stamp with a portable ink pad so we can just stamp stunned diners on the forehead:  "Whap!!  You've been WKCed!"

[Chasing_smoke]

That looks amazing mike! Great job!


 "my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks, Michael.  I've been thinking a lot about your wisdom that it's a lot easier to do a dish well when you do it for a lot of reps (like in a restaurant kitchen).  So as much as I'm tired of eating chicken, I'm sure that doing this meal twice in two days helped me to improve it considerably. 

[Weber MD]

Mike, those photos made my mouth water.  I'm going to have to try that recipe.  Thanks for sharing.

[pbe gummi bear]

You've inspired me and my wife, Mike! We are gonna give the PAB a go tomorrow. Our setup is similar to yours. I just picked up a roti and I'm doing the inaugural cook on my red ss.

Here's some pics of my wife's prep. We used the recipe from chowhound but with Bourbon instead of brandy.





Here's the paste

[mike.stavlund]

That looks incredible, Lawrence!  I gotta get to the market and try to find some of those pastes and specialized ingredients. 

Congrats on the new rotis, and post some photos of the finished product!

[pbe gummi bear]

That looks incredible, Lawrence!  I gotta get to the market and try to find some of those pastes and specialized ingredients. 

Congrats on the new rotis, and post some photos of the finished product!

Will do mike, gonna fire it up in a few hours. There's a nice market close to me. Let me know if you have trouble finding things and I can send you stuff.

[OGlenn]

I tried out edhead's recipe on a few friends a couple days after he posted it, and I got nothing but rave reviews.  No open dry white, so I used vermouth. I will definitely try the jalopena dipping sauce this week when I go in for round two. I don't have a rotisserie, so I just stood a couple chickens up in the kettle and the came out looking purty. No pics, as I tend to eat when the eating is good.

[pbe gummi bear]

Here's today's cook. The rotisserie was alot of fun. I could have forked it on better though. The cook LOOKED amazing but just turned out OK. It was not as tender as peruvian chicken should be, but the taste was close. My wife made some of the green sauce, but something wasn't quite right. Still tasty, but not what I was expecting.

Cheers!




My setup, Red SS, Weber Roti.


Fired up the baskets with gas assist, put a grate on top, and cooked the gizzard, liver, and heart.


Appetizer


Loaded and chugging along at 350F +/-50F, The Weber thermometer looks nice but its a POS.


Halfway done


Done done. 


Here's your plate!

[edhead35]

This is next on my rotisserie list.

[mike.stavlund]

Your chicken looks great, Lawrence, and your SS is breathtaking.  Unbelievable.

Sorry your flavors weren't what you wanted, but I'm sure you can tweak things as you go.  FWIW, I take some string to truss up the birds, mostly to keep the dark meat protecting the white meat a bit, and also to keep the dark meat from getting overdone too quickly.  Also, the folks at the pollo ala brassa joints tie theirs up, too. 

As for me, with the help of the kind people at the Hispanic Market-- and my daughter who is learning Spanish-- I found all of the secret ingredients this morning.  Like most grocery stores, different kinds and brands of spices were in entirely different places, so it was key to have someone take me by the hand and locate everything.  And for those watching at home, the 'aji amarillo' is a hot yellow pepper paste, the annatto powder is some kind of tree bark (not much flavor, either), and the 'huacatay' is a black mint paste.  Pretty interesting flavors that I'm stoked to try out. 

Oh, and all three secret ingredients came to a grand total of $7.  Plus a nice Mexican Coke for daddy. 

[edhead35]

Annatto powder is ground Annatto seeds. It is used  to make a achiote paste and imparts a slightly earthy flavor but is more about color than flavor.

Looks like I am making it this weekend. I will be using the other recipe though,  the one I posted, adjusted for more salt, Mexican oregano, and brandy. Next time I will try the second method.

[mike.stavlund]

Annatto powder is ground Annatto seeds. It is used  to make a achiote paste and imparts a slightly earthy flavor but is more about color than flavor.

Looks like I am making it this weekend. I will be using the other recipe though,  the one I posted, adjusted for more salt, Mexican oregano, and brandy. Next time I will try the second method.

thanks for correcting me on annatto, Ed.  I was thinking that it must be more for color than flavor. 

and -- dang! -- you reminded me that I totally forgot to buy Mexican oregano today.  And it would have only set me back about 99 cents at the market...

[pbe gummi bear]

I just had a PAB sandwich using yesterday's leftovers. They unequivocal verdict is that the chicken was overcooked. They were tiny chicken at <3 lbs each. I also had two baskets going on either side. Next time I'll do one basket, tie up the chicken, and watch my temp better.