I do have a basic roast chicken recipe – no-fuss, cheap, one that always hit the spot, which I intend to post but then I thought it may not be Christmassy enough.  Well it still is, and of course I know many people still like their chicken plain and simple.  But then if that’s what you want then best to buy your favorite chicken from your favorite resto.  Wala pang hirap.  Oh get my drift.

So here goes peri-peri chicken.  The dish may be prepped mildly spicy, medium or really hot – peri-peri means African bird’s eye chili, which I didn’t use here as our tolerance for spicy isn’t that strong.  If you can take it well go for it.  A piece of siling labuyo might be your thing.

Come to think of it, this Portuguese chicken roast has very similar flavors to chicken inasal.  Yum.  What to serve with peri-peri chicken?  Below is a photo of my plate with roast carrots, fresh young spinach leaves, and a bowl of hearty pumpkin soup cooked by my son.  Or… vegetable salad (fresh salad greens, cucumber and tomatoes, perhaps with smoked salmon) with simple dressing (lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper), onion rings, potato wedges or sweet corn on a cob.  Don’t forget your rice.

Ingredients:
1.5kg whole free range chicken, butterflied
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp fresh chili paste
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
A few sprigs of flatleaf parsley, coarsely chopped (optional)
Few mint leaves, shredded (optional)

Rub salt and pepper on chicken. Set aside while you prepare the ingredients for the peri-peri sauce.

Combine garlic, onion, lemon juice, chili, vinegar, paprika and olive oil in a bowl.  Pour over chicken.  Chop parsley and shred some mint leaves.   Massage sauce and herbs on chicken and marinade for at least 2 hours.

When ready, preheat oven to 190 deg C.  Arrange chicken on a grill in a baking pan.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Change the setting to fan-grill for another half an hour.  Let chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

And if you’re lazy, instead of making your own peri-peri sauce you can replace it with ready-made sauce. Sometimes I use Nando’s.  From the listed ingredients above, omit garlic, onion, lemon, chili, vinegar and paprika.  Replace these with your chosen ready-made sauce and combine with olive oil.

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.