Grand Prize Winner: Chicken!!
- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 4 hr 25 min
- Prep: 30 min
- Inactive: 2 hr
- Cook: 1 hr 55 min
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons huacatay (Peruvian herb)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 ajies (Peruvian chile)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 lemons or limes, juiced
1/2 teaspoon achiote (annato)
2 pounds yucca root, peeled and boiled (cook them like potatoes)
Vegetable oil, for frying
Aji sauce:
1 cup of cream of aji (6 to 9 ajies in the blender with salt, 1 clove of garlic, ground black pepper, and 1/2 cup oil)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
Creamy cheese sauce:
1 package queso fresco
1/4 red onion sauteed (without oil)
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon turmeric (cook the turmeric in 2 tablespoon hot oil, for 3 seconds)
1 aji chile
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions
- Rotisserie Chicken:
- Rinse the chicken very well, and cut off all the fat. Tuck the wings under the back of the chicken.
- Make a paste by mixing the garlic, huacatay, pepper, salt, aji, cumin, lemon or lime juice and achiote. Spread paste on the chicken and rub well from outside to inside. Let stand in the refrigerator for 2 hours or more, for a good flavor.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put the chicken in the roasting pan with lid. Cook, covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until it is golden brown.
- Yucca Root:
- After you have peeled and boiled the yucca. Cut it into a French fry shape. In a deep pot or a deep-fryer heat oil to 350 degrees F. Fry the yucca in batches, if necessary, until golden brown and crispy. Sprinkle with salt to taste.
- Aji sauce:
- Mix cream of aji, olive oil, green onions, and lime juice in a medium bowl.
- Cheese sauce:
- Blend queso fresco, red onion, oil, milk, turmeric mixture, chile, salt and pepper, and lemon juice in a blender until it becomes creamy.
- Put the whole chicken on a plate with the fried yucca root around, and the 2 sauces on the side for dipping. This is the way my kids started to eat the chicken I make, and thank you God, no more chicken fingers.
