Peruvian Style Roasted Chicken, Yellow Rice and Lima Beans

My daughter Grace and I spent a month in Lima, Peru a few years back and were excited to enjoy some amazing food. In particular, Peruvians make a fabulous spit-roasted chicken accompanied by delicious sauces, typically a spicy green chili salsa and a spicy yellow cream sauce made from aji amarillo paste.  Tonight’s dinner is a version of that recipe from Better Homes and Garden called “Pollo a la Brasa” aka Peruvian chicken.  The chicken will have been brining for twenty-four hours in a bath of soy, honey garlic, beer, garlic water and salt.  As per the recipe (see the link below), I cut out the back bone so the chicken will lay flat in the roasting pan.  This was my first time cutting up whole chicken and it did create some anxiety with all the chicken juice and the fondling of the raw chicken but I am proud of the results.  To that I will add a rub and attempt the yellow sauce if I can find aji amarillo paste at a local Asian/Latin Grocery store nearby. I decided to make a simple yellow rice, which I make frequently and lima beans, which I have never made and which I accidentally took from my weekly CSA instead of green beans.  However, a typical Peruvian chicken dish is usually accompanied by french fried or potatoes, which are popular in the Andes.

Today, I was able to get the aji amarillo chili paste shown below to make the sauce for the chicken, which I don’t anticipate finding in most grocery stores though it can be ordered online.

      

After I removed the chicken from the overnight brine I patted it dry before adding the rub (see below) and putting it into the oven for an hour at 375 degrees.  Here is a the picture of the chicken with the rub I applied to the chicken skin and underneath the skin, which I loosened with my fingers.  Then I licked them.  Here is the recipe and recipe link for the full details (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pollo-a-la-brasa/)

Pollo a la Brasa

BRINE:

• 1
  3 pound whole roasting chicken
• 2
  cups water
• 2
  tablespoons kosher salt
• 1
  12 ounce bottle dark beer, such as Negra Modelo
• 1/2
  cup soy sauce
• 2
  tablespoons honey
• 6
  cloves garlic, smashed

RUB:

• 1 1/2
  teaspoons chili powder
• 1
  teaspoon paprika
• 1/2
  teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2
  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2
  teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4
  teaspoon ground black pepper

*Optional Aji Sauce: Blend 1 cup of mayo, 1/4 cup aji paste, 1/4 cup diced green onion, 1/4 cup diced cilantro, 2 cloves and garlic and the juice of 3-4 teaspoons of lime until smooth.

Yellow Rice

• 1 and 1/2 cup of rice
• 1/2 onion diced and sauteed for a few minutes until soft and translucent ( I used white onion tonight)
• 1 clove garlic diced and sauteed for 30 second
• chicken broth
• sprinkle of turmeric and curry powder
• salt and a splash of olive oil

*I use a rice cooker so I just added the above ingredients and pushed start.  Also, my liquid (chicken broth) to rice ratio is based on my specific cooker instructions.  However, you can make this just as easily on the stove following the directions on the back of bag or box rice.  If you do like rice and eat it often enough I highly recommend a rice cooker.  They are relatively cheap and very efficient and you don’t have to keep monitoring the rice on the stove while making the rest of the meal.

Lima Beans

As I mentioned we do like to try new things, but this has never been one of the them.  First, to get to the beans you have to shuck them from their shells. Lima beans resemble an extra large snap pea. Then I boiled the beans in salt water for 30 minutes, drained them and added butter.  I just did a quick internet search on how to cook fresh lima beans.

Results

   

The chicken was perfectly cooked, and it actually took 50 minutes, not the hour the recipe called for.  By all accounts-kids, husband and our dinner guest Lisa Egebo-the chicken was excellent.  The brine and rub made the chicken so juicy (check the platter on the table) and flavorful…though I think I need some lessons on carving.   Brent claimed it was the best roast chicken, not only that I have ever made, but that he has ever eaten though noting it is not something we order at restaurants.   Needless to say, we picked this bird clean. We were also unanimous in thinking the aji sauce, while yummy, was not needed on a chicken so savory. On the other hand, while the lima beans weren’t disgusting or inedible, no one claimed to have liked or enjoyed them.  The yellow rice was delicious as usual…though this time it seemed to be better because I didn’t add too much turmeric. It really only needs just a sprinkle for color and flavoring.  Also, you may notice the yellow watermelon (my first) on the table, which was delicious as well, and which I grabbed from my weekly CSA share at Brad’s Produce without noticing the color.  I will definitely be making this chicken again.