#49: Piri-piri(-inspired) Chicken

"Tinola, fried chicken, adobo, afritada, caldereta... Ano pa nga ba? Nakukurta na utak ko!" 

I remember this to be the woe of my grandma when she can't think of anything else to do with good old chicken. And I know a lot of battle-scarred Pinoy kitchens suffer from the same chicken-again fatigue.

So to make our chicken-loving selves enjoy some variety, I have a number of other chicken dishes that is not a typical Pinoy household fare such as Pollo al Ajo and Chicken Florentine. There are a few others that I am still too lazy to write about but today, Igot inspired to share my experiment that brought yet another refreshing dimension to our favorite bird. This recipe is inspired by a barbecue sauce called Piri-piri made of a chili called, well, Piri-piri. :-) This version is the pan fried one. Not very authentic but hey, this is definitely manageable for our busy schedules and an absolutely good eats for the family.

#41: Chicken Florentine

when I buy chicken, I always ask the butcher to keep the chicken breast whole and I just use the rest of the chicken for stews or for frying. The breast of a whole chicken can fairly feed 2 to 3 people. If you want to feed four, set aside 2 whole chicken breasts for your meal.

This one is just so restaurant-y that some people are intimidated to even try to do this. But I assure you that this is much easier than it looks. Again, malunggay is the leafy vegetable of choice here more for its nutritional value. The slight bitterness of this vegetable goes well with the ham and cheese.  However, if you prefer kangkong or native spinach, it's okay. You will definitely wow your family or your friends with this elegant offering. 

Chicken Florentine

Sosy Level: 5

Pawis Level: 3

Featured Ingredient: Malunggay (don't you just love it? I have another Malunggay recipe here)

#35: Coffee Roasted Chicken

Coffee.. I am so in love with it that I even add it to my chicken! Haha! you may think that this will taste funny but really, what coffee adds to this is the smoky flavor without the actual carbon crust on the chicken. This is so delicious and simple, you can almost do this even if you don't have any cooking experience at all. And, it adds a truck load of pogi/ popularity points if you serve this to your friends. Little do they know that it is made of only 5 ingredients. 

#17: Pininyahang Atay ng Manok (Sarap nito!)

Perhaps I was treated to a death-by-tomato-dishes when I was young that is why I'm more inclined to prepare coconut or milk-based sauteed dishes now that I have my own kitchen. I still loooove kalderetang baka (the type that has peanut butter, and cheese and coconut milk *sigh*. I'll share the recipe for that soon!) but there is something refreshing and light about this Pinoy dish that we're going to bring to life this time.


This is an attempt to make you liver-haters to love the luscious, buttery, slightly bitter and earthy taste of our featured ingredient: chicken liver. Chicken liver is much smoother and lighter on the palate than pork or beef liver. Its rather eccentric characteristics are balanced out by the beach-loving, tangy flavor of pinapples that is sweet, sour and fruity at the same time. Then the whole marriage is tied by the rather subtle but creamy contribution of milk, both cow's and coconut (or whichever is available in your pantry at the moment). This nutritious and friendly viand could easily become a favorite in your repertoire of good food.