Brazilian Beer-Marinated Chicken with "Chipotle" Rice

So this recipe sounds perfect for one's macho man side right? It requires sixteen ounces of beer. Gosh darn it, the beer only comes in twelve ounces bottles. I guess I will have to drink that extra eight ounces. Plus it is on the grill! 



Mmm. Manly dinner.

 
Too bad I hate this beer.

One for the recipe... one for the drain.

Truth is this is the wifey's favorite recipe. And ever since discovering the magic that is spice bags, it is pretty high on my list as well. So crack a beer, light the grill, and get ready to earn bonus points with the wifey (at least with mine if you invite her over).


Unrelated to anything, I find this oddly pretty.


Brazilian Beer-Marinated Chicken
Resources:
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon prepared ginger
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds in a spice bag (see commentary)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 cups Xingu Black Beer (see commentary)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into long strips (2.5 - 3 lbs)
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

Method:
1. In a large shallow dish, mix the garlic, ginger, paprika, salt, black pepper, caraway seeds, mustard, beer and oil. Mix well. Add the chicken, then add the onion & peppers, cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours) turning once or twice.

2. Line the upper rack of the grill with foil. Light the grill.

3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill over high heat. Put the onions & peppers on top of the chicken. Baste occasionally. After about 25 minutes (less for thinner chicken), move the onions & peppers to the grill, flip the chicken. Baste the chicken and onions & peppers occasionally. After about 10 minutes move the onions & peppers to the foil lined upper rack. Grill another 15 minutes or until the chicken is booked through.

4. Remove the onions & peppers to a plate. Put the chicken on top. Microwave the butter until melted. Mix in the cilantro. Pour over the chicken. Cover for 3-5 minutes. Then serve with rice.

"Chipotle" Rice (this is 1/3 of what I usually make)
Resources:
1/2 cup white rice (uncooked)
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon oil
Water (amount as instructed by the rice being used)

Method:
Mix water, lime juice, salt, and oil. Cook per the rice's instructions, stirring occasionally. When the majority of the water is absorbed by the rice add the cilantro. Cook until no water remains. 

Green team go, go, go! Add that cilantro!

Commentary:

I use a 13"x9" baking dish to marinate the chicken in. That dish is pretty darn full. Make sure you use a large enough dish.

 

Yup. Pretty full.

 

Garlic seems to be a big hang up in the cooking world. Peeling is a pain, so some people use pre-minced garlic and blah, blah, blah. That is fine, but I just do not see the difficulty. I lightly crush with the flat of a blade and trim the ends. I find this makes peeling really easy eighty plus percent of the time. Then I use a garlic press in this particular recipe (or mince or whatever the recipe calls for).

Careful. Someone told me knives are sharp.

Me smash!

Woo! Another one use kitchen tool!

Ginger on the other hand I use the prepared stuff. Ginger does not cycle nearly as fast as garlic in my house.

 

I strongly recommend using spice bags. Hell I will not make it them without anymore. Biting into a caraway seed is awful! They are less than a buck a piece. They are also in theory reusable, but that did not go well the time we tried.



Worth their weight in brownie points with the wifey.

I try to cut the onions & peppers into long strips. You will lose some of them down the grill. The longer they are, the easier they are to keep. Speaking of which, the original recipe only used a half a pepper. More onions & peppers are better if you ask me. Hell, if my onions are small I will use one and half.

Xingu Black Beer is an anise black lager from Brazil. It is pretty common at larger beer shops but I rarely see it at small ones. I used an Imperial Russian Stout as a sub once when I could not find it, but it was not the same. Use Xingu unless you have exhausted all other options.

The lighting the grill AFTER putting the foil on the upper rack is kind of an important order thing. I like my hands with minimal burns.

Touch the metal THEN apply fire. Got it.

 

My grill is old and the grill surface is not great. I heavily oil the grill to prevent sticking. I usually use olive oil, but I have been told peanut is better to reduce flare-ups. Cannot say I have ever tried it though.

Getting the onions & peppers just right is really hard. Keep an eye on them. They go from undercooked to blacked quickly. Plus there is the whole between the grates problem.

That one on the left is making a break for it.

 

You are supposed to slash with a lime before serving, but I do not usually bother.

Leftovers are great. Dice the chicken, mix with some rice, and douse with a bit of the accumulated juices. Refrigerate. Microwave the leftovers, stirring occasionally. Almost as good as the original.

The rice is a Chipotle rice imitation recipe I think goes great with the chicken or by itself. I TRIPLE it typically for Brazilian Beer Chicken because I like lots of rice.

This is a recipe I have made countless times and is somewhat involved. I have tried my best here to cover all the details of how I actually make it. So if it looks like I missed a step, made assumptions, or something just is not clear feel free to comment below and I will do my best to fill you in.

Conclusion:

Yup, that was manly.

 

I will make this again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Rather I like it or not (luckily I do).