Brazilian Night

Hobby of the day: Cooking

Don't be fooled, there will be no Brazilian waxes or Bikinis......


We did however have our monthly International Dinner Night. We chose Brazil, I'm not sure why since the last country that we did was Peru, too close? I had originally thought about doing Ireland or Belgium, but then felt that they might be too much considering we are leaving at the break of dawn tomorrow morning for Jamaica. So excited by the way.


Gary actually found and did the marinade for a Brazilian chicken recipe. That was real nice, usually I am the one who is doing all the prep work. I am making a side of Brazilian rice and we have all the essentials for a Caipirinha...hope it is as good as it sounds. We bought the, limes, sprite and cachaca.  You also add sugar or simple syrup.  Recipe here.....  it was pretty refreshing, I definitely needed to add the sprite Yummers!




Everyone always brings a side to the main dish. Gary made Brazilian Black Beer chicken, made with xingu beer. It turned out great! Usually I make the main dish, but not this time, everyone said how delicious it was.  We also prefer to use the thinner sliced chicken breasts than the thick ones.  They cook faster and they also seem to soak up the marinade much better.  

Here's the recipe: From www.food.com  
We would have let it marinade for longer than 6 hours, but we didn't find the recipe early enough.   

• 2 cups beer
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup dijon-style mustard
• 1 tablespoon paprika , sweet
• 1 teaspoon black pepper , freshly ground
• 1 medium onion , thinly sliced
• 12 garlic cloves , thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds)
• salt , coarse (kosher or sea)

Directions:

1. Combine the beer, oil, mustard, paprika, and pepper in a large nonreactive bowl and whisk thoroughly to blend. Stir in the onion, garlic, and bay leaves.
2. Rinse the chicken pieces under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Add to the marinade in the bowl and turn to coat. Cover and let marinate, in the refrigerator, for 6 hours or up to 2 days (the longer the better), turning the pieces occasionally.
3. Preheat the grill, using the two-tiered method.
4. When ready to cook, remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and blot dry. Season the pieces generously with salt. Oil the grill grate and arrange the chicken, skin side down, on the grate over the hotter section of the grill and cook. During the first 10 minutes only, brush several times with the reserved marinade.
5. Transfer the chicken pieces to serving plates and serve immediately.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/brazilian-beer-chicken-456472#ixzz1rUmk7MXV

I think that this chicken would also go fabulously in a lettuce wrap with some rice, brown or white.