Grilled Chicken With Tomatillo Sauce
- Total Time
- About 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 13-pound chicken, cut up
- Juice 1 lime or lemon
- 3cloves garlic, whole with skins intact
- 1pound tomatillos
- 1jalapeno chili, seeded and sliced
- 1tablespoon sugar
- ¼cup dry white or Chinese rice wine
- ½cup white wine vinegar
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- ¼cup coriander leaves, plus a few for garnishing
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat broiler or coals for the chicken. Wipe the chicken dry with paper towels and squeeze on the juice of the lime or lemon. Set aside.
- Step 2
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the garlic in its skin until soft (about 10 minutes). Peel.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, grill the chicken until cooked. While it is cooking make the sauce. Chop the tomatillos and place them in a skillet with the chili, sugar, wine and vinegar. Cook until soft, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 4
Add the garlic and mash into the sauce. Pour the mixture into a food processor. Add the coriander leaves (setting a few aside for garnishing) and puree. Pour the mixture into a saucepan.
- Step 5
When the chicken is cooked, place on a serving dish. Heat the sauce, and swirl in the butter. Pour into a sauceboat and sprinkle with remaining coriander. Serve separately.
- This sauce can be served hot or cold. It is particularly good with tuna or swordfish steaks.
Private Notes
Comments
I was reduce the amount of vinegar by 50% in this dish - it was simply too vinegary at the end for my taste.I would substitute 1/4 cup white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup water.
Def less vinegar, maybe skip the sugar too. Would be a great sauce over a roasted veggie quinoa bowl. Added Cumin and Coriander, and would consider onions too
This recipe was published in 1986 and is a product of its time. For my taste, this sauce is both too sweet and too sour, but perhaps back in the mid-80s it was perceived to need this to balance the taste of the cilantro. Cilantro is now a mainstream ingredient and this sauce needs some adjustments for contemporary tastes. Good ripe tomatillos have a nice acid/sugar balance without adding sugar or vinegar. I won’t make this again.
I was reduce the amount of vinegar by 50% in this dish - it was simply too vinegary at the end for my taste.I would substitute 1/4 cup white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup water.
I used the recipe to make chicken thighs stewed in the tomatillo sauce. I cut the vinegar in half but added the lime juice to the sauce- I loved the tartness of it, sorta like an adobo chicken. Butter is definitely needed to balance the sauce- I think a full cup of vinegar will be too strong for some people.
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