OH SHOOT! I FORGOT IT’S FRIENDSGIVING: Last Minute Recipe

One of the things we Millennials are good for is Friendsgiving. Friendsgiving has become its own equally important holiday -like Thanksgiving. It involves spending an evening eating the best of Thanksgiving dishes with your friends. It also involves a night of drinking, games, teacups be filled and spilled, and not an ounce of judgment from your aunties and uncles. While I love Friendsgiving, there’s one downside -you have to cook. Some of you may not like cooking (or even know how to) and some of you may not know what to cook. And if you are like me, you remembered to buy the Hennessey Black but forgot to decide on what you will be cooking and Friendsgiving is tomorrow. Fret not, friends! The Tribe got you

Freight not, friends! In a November world of Turkey, Ham, Mac, Collard Greens, Potatoes, Tomatoes (YOU NAME IT), I like to stand out with my Friendsgiving dish. As a culturally relevant individual, I believe this is the time to sprinkle some tribe on the dinner table and bring some culture into the cooking. Some of you may automatically be thinking Jollof rice, but the fact is Jollof is now boring (argue with aunty Funke). Jollof no longer brings the vim to the table. If you are looking for African food ideas that are different and full of vim, check out my post from 2 Thanksgiving ago on some possible African thanksgiving dishes. For this post, we will be focusing on how to make one of those dishes, Peri-Peri Chicken. Peri-Peri chicken is known for its fiery and bold taste. Please see below for my modified peri-peri chicken recipe that I must admit tastes similar to (Nandos)

INGREDIENTS

• whole chicken
• 1 pound African Red-Eye Chili (you may substitute this with any other type of red chili peppers)
• Jalapeno peppers
• Chopped red onions
• minced garlic
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp of Granulated Maggi
• 1 tbsp of salt
• a tiny bit of adobo seasoning

Spatchcocking Your Chicken

• Lay the chicken flat on a surface, legs down.
• Hold the neck and cut next to the backbone with a pair of scissors.

• Cut all the way down till the end of the backbone.
• Cut the other side of the backbone (reserve for later use or toss).
• Push open the chicken, turn around and lay flat with the legs to the side.

Peri-Peri Chicken

• Combine all marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender
• Blend well
• Reserve 1/3 of marinade for later use (Peri-Peri sauce)
• Brush remaining marinade on both sides of the chicken
• Marinate and refrigerate the chicken for 4 hours to overnight
• Preheat oven at 425 degrees
• Place marinated chicken in the oven with the breast side facing up
• Leave in for 30 minutes then flip over
• Flip chicken over and leave in oven for 15 minutes
• Broil for 2-5 minutes for a char-grilled look

Peri-Peri Sauce

• Add reserved marinade, 1/2 cup of water and 2 tbsp sugar to a saucepan and bring to boil.
• Cook for 3-5 minutes and remove.

We hope this saves some of you procrastinating innovators who refused to stand for another Friendsgiving with Jollof being the only African dish.