Poulet Yassa
Poulet Yassa
Senegalese chicken stew. This is a mild version of the dish from The Barbecue Bible.
Ingredients
- 1 3 1/2 - 4 pound chicken, quartered
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 - 2 Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded For a hotter spice paste, leave the seeds in.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped about 2 cups
- 1 cup whole-grain French mustard
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 12 green olives, pitted and thinly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 - 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded For a hotter sauce, leave the seeds in
- Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken pieces under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Make 1 or 2 deep slashes to the bone in each piece, then place the chicken in a nonreactive baking dish large enough to hold all the pieces in a single layer. Set the chicken aside while you prepare the paste.
- Combine the garlic, 1-2 Scotch bonnets, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper in a mortar and pound to a paste with the pestle. Then, work in the 3 tablespoons of oil. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, combine the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- Using your fingers, stuff half the paste into the slashes in each piece of chicken, then spread the remainder of the paste over the skin. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator, covered for 2 to 12 hours. the longer the better.
- Make the lemon-mustard sauce. In a sauce pan, combine the chopped onion, mustard, 1/2 cup of oil and the lemon juice, olives, bay leaf, and the remaining Scotch bonnet pepper. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix well and bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low. Let simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft, the sauce is thick and creamy, and the oil has started to separate out, about 15 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper, as necessary. Discard the bay leaf and Scotch bonnet. Set the sauce aside, covered.
- Set up your grill for two-zone grilling (direct and indirect), heating two thirds of the grill to medium and leaving one-third heat free as a safety zone.
- When the grill is ready, brush and oil the grill grate. Arrange the chicken pieces skin-side down over the hot zone of the grill and cook until the skin is golden brown and the meat is cooked through without any trace of red at the bone -- 8 to 12 minutes per side. If you get flare-ups, move the chicken to the safety zone until the flames die down.
- When cooked on both sides, transfer the chicken to the saucepan with the sauce and bring to a simmer over low heat, spooning the sauce over the chicken to coat. Cover and cook until the chicken is well-flavored by the sauce, about 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken pieces to serving plates or a platter and spoon the sauce over them.
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