With summer coming (when the sun will definitely shine more than it has done this spring) this is the perfect chicken dish to start the barbecuing season off with.
Pepper chicken is another dish that reminds me of all those family parties we attended growing up, where there were tray upon trays of this nutty and peppery chicken. There was always a non pepper version for the kids amongst the 20 other dishes to get stuck into!
You could say it is a West African version of satay chicken, but certainty more fiery! There’s just enough heat to get your tongue tingling and not masque the gorgeous flavours.
This dish can also be roasted in the oven, as well as barbecuing. Both cooking methods are just as wonderful and juicy as each other though, as you can imagine, with barbecuing you get a crispier charred skin and amazing smoked flavour that just takes it to another level! Teamed with roasted lemons and sweet potato rostis, this will be your go to dish for all your summer barbecues!
You can make a large batch of this marinade and then split it up in to smaller batches to freeze. It’ll keep for a month and means half your prep. is done for your barbecuing feast!
Like the pepper kingfish, it is best to marinate the chicken overnight for it to be truly tasty from the skin to the bone.
Enjoy!
xx
The prep. part – serves 8 -10
Pepper chicken
- 8 – 10 large chicken thighs with the skin on
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 salad tomato
- 1 ½ tbsp. of peanut butter – I use whole earth organic crunchy peanut butter
- 1tbsp of tomato paste
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ white onion
- 4 lemons, juiced
- 1 tsp of scotch bonnet pepper – I usually have a jar of blitzed scotch bonnet in the fridge and top it with a little olive oil so it keeps longer.)
- 1/3 of a low salt vegetable kallo cube
- 2 lemons, cut in half
Cooking/assembling part
- Put all the ingredients for the marinade into a food processor and blitz until near smooth.
- Place the chicken thighs in tupperware, cover with marinade and place in the fridge ideally overnight, or for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to175°C
ROASTING THE CHICKEN
- Place the chicken skin side up in the tray, keeping some of the marinade back to brush on halfway through cooking.
- Place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, brush the remaining marinade over the chicken and turn the oven up to 190°C. Cook for a further 20 – 25 minutes.
BARBECUING THE CHICKEN
- Follow the instructions on packet of charcoal, ensure the coal is white before you place the chicken on the barbecue. Once the barbecue is ready, place the chicken skin side down on the grill for 10 – 15 minutes.
- After 10 – 15 minutes, turn the chicken so that it is now skin side up, and the skin is nicely charred, and barbecue for a further 10 minutes. Pre-heat the oven at 175°C.
- Remove the chicken from the barbecue and into an oven tray. Brush with the remaining marinade and place in the oven for a further 20 minutes to cook through.
Enjoy!
x
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