Historically made with rooster, this daring and flavorful Portuguese dish works nice with the flavors of untamed turkey
I fell in love with Portuguese meals comparatively early on in life. I grew up in a neighborhood with numerous Portuguese immigrants from the Azores, together with the folks residing subsequent to us. Their son and I have been of an analogous age, so we ended up turning into associates and enjoying usually.Â
Very often, I’d be invited over to lunch (eaten within the downstairs eating room, by no means the upstairs one!), the place, as an eight-year-old, I obtained to strive issues like crab in white wine sauce, steak and eggs, fried mackerel, and spicy home made chouriço sausages. Certain beat the jarred spaghetti and boxed taco kits I used to be consuming at residence!Â
I used to be endlessly inquisitive about my Portuguese neighbors. Staring by means of the chain-link fence, I watched my pal’s dad have a tendency fruit timber and grape vines, hoe his backyard, and make sausages and wine within the autumn. It was very totally different from the life my dad and mom lived, and I discovered it to be immensely attention-grabbing.Â
They finally moved away, and time moved on. Early in my teenage years, my uncle took me to his favourite restaurant, an informal Portuguese Frango Churrasco joint specializing in grilled piri piri rooster. Everybody within the restaurant was Portuguese, aside from us, all raptly watching a loud soccer sport on the tv within the nook. My dad and mom didn’t actually go to eating places aside from the odd Chinese language buffet, so this was a really new expertise for me.Â
We ordered the rooster, which got here out as half a grilled rooster on a plate, cut up into 5-6 items, with a beneficiant serving of fries, all smothered in oily piri piri sauce that gave the impression to be made by combining the drippings from the rooster with scorching sauce. The meal additionally got here with a lot of Portuguese bread, bowls of juicy black olives, and my uncle even ordered me a beer, which the waitstaff didn’t appear to react to.Â
I used to be in heaven. The rooster was so juicy and flavorful, and I couldn’t get sufficient of the unbelievable sauce, which I mopped up off the plate with hunks of bread. My uncle ordered us some Calvados (apple brandy) to complete off our meal, which warmed me up from the within out.Â
I take into account that day to have been amongst my most influential meals experiences.Â
I continued going to the restaurant, introducing my associates to Portuguese delicacies and making an attempt out the entire different dishes that they had on the menu (a dish of pork and clams? Sure, please!) and would purchase their piri piri sauce to convey residence. The restaurant remains to be there, 25 years later, and after I go to residence, I all the time make some extent to drop in for some rooster and a bottle or two of their piri piri sauce to convey again residence with me.Â
Once I shot my first wild turkey and was questioning what sort of recipes I ought to make with it, my thoughts jumped to that first expertise of deliciously greasy rooster drenched in piri piri. I needed that with even tastier wild turkey meat.Â
Wild turkey is harder and far leaner than rooster, although, so just a few steps should be taken to tenderize it, which I spell out within the recipe.Â
Recipe Notes:
Piri piri sauce is now accessible in most grocery shops, however the actually great things will be discovered at Portuguese eating places. Verify to see if there are any the place you reside and provides them a name asking if you should purchase their piri piri sauce instantly – most locations will promote it.Â
When you can solely get it from the shop, see if yow will discover one that appears oily relatively than super-emulsified and orange. It should seemingly style nearer to the actual deal.Â
For an excellent juicier end-product, brine your turkey breast in a single day in a brine made of two tablespoons of salt for every ¼ gallon of water.Â
The way in which I cook dinner French fries on this recipe could appear a bit wacky, however belief me, it really works!
As an alternative of blanching the fries in oil, eradicating them, then frying them at a better temperature, I simply do it multi functional go. The outcomes converse for themselves.Â

Piri Piri Wild Turkey Steaks with Fries
A conventional Portuguese dish tailored to the flavors of untamed turkey
Reduce the turkey breast into 4 items. Sandwich one of many items between two items of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet till about 1/2 inch thick. Repeat with the opposite items.
Combine the lemon juice, paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a bowl. Add the turkey items and blend till well-coated. Put aside to marinate for not less than half-hour.
In the meantime, wash the potatoes and slice them into French fry batons. Switch them to a bowl and canopy with chilly water. Put aside whereas the turkey marinates.
Get a grill going to medium-high warmth.
Add the chilly frying oil and the drained potatoes to a deep pot over medium-low warmth. Warmth till the fries change into tender and pliable, about quarter-hour or so. Stir each every now and then so the potatoes don’t keep on with the underside.
Put the turkey on the grill and grill on either side till the interior temperature reaches 160°F. Pull off and let relaxation.
Flip the oil to medium-high warmth and fry the potatoes till they flip golden. Switch to paper towels and season with salt or seasoned salt.
Heat up the piri piri sauce within the microwave or in a pot.
Serve the turkey items over the french fries, slathered in piri piri sauce. Take pleasure in!
Energy: 559kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 50gFats: 39gSaturated Fats: 4gPolyunsaturated Fats: 10gMonounsaturated Fats: 24gTrans Fats: 0.1gLdl cholesterol: 122mgSodium: 1059mgPotassium: 665mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1347IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 2mg
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