You may recall last year as we readied for tailgating season, we brought you an amazing Peri-Peri Chicken Wing recipe. I grilled these wings up on several occasions and won the hearts and minds of just about anyone who tried them. So of course if Peri-Peri Chicken was so good, Peri-Peri Shrimp had to be even better. Right?

Moving on, Peri-peri or piri-piri hot sauce is made primarily with African bird’s eye chile peppers and is very popular in West and South Africa as well as Portugal. Although hard to find, you can buy the most popular brand of Peri-Peri in the states. Nando’s Peri-Per bottled hot sauce can be found in some grocers and specialty markets. But If your supermarket won’t play, you can order it online from several online retailers. Just Google it.

But better yet, make you own at home even without the African bird’s eye chile pepper. Just substitute any hot peppers (habanero, jalapenos, Serrano) but let them mature and turn red first. the taste will be very close to commercially bottle Peri-Peri sauces.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Nando’s Peri-Peri hot pepper sauce
• 1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 lemons (2 cut into wedges, 1 juiced)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Or if you want to make your own sauce…

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh red chili peppers (preferably African bird’s eye chilies)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup olive oil (Spanish if possible)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

PRERPARATION:

If you are making your own sauce mince the garlic, sprinkle it with the salt and using the flat side of a large knife, mash and grind the garlic into a paste. Add the peppers and continue mashing and grinding. Place this mash into a bowl and mix in the mustard. Then slowly whisk in the vinegar then the oil until the sauce is a bit emulsified.

Now place your shrimp in a freezer bag and pour in the sauce (Nando’s or homemade, whichever route you take), the juice of 1 lemon, olive oil and a small pinch each of salt and pepper and marinate the shrimp in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Preheat your grill to high heat. Meanwhile skewer the shrimp and lemon wedges alternating with 2 shrimps then 1 lemon wedge. Throw the shrimp and lemon skewers on the grill and cook for 3 – 4 minutes per side or until they just begin to turn pink. Be careful to not overcook the shrimp. The grilled lemon wedges will make a fantastic garnish and yield a great amount of juice which works perfect with the flavor of the Peri-Peri. Serve with ice cold beer!

Serves 4 – 8

Heat Factor

Football season is here and that can only mean one thing, chicken wings. Honestly, next to beer, chicken wings may be the next most integral component in any successful tailgating event. So blow their minds this weekend with this recipe.

Peri-peri or piri-piri hot sauce is made primarily with African bird’s eye chili peppers and is very popular in West and South Africa as well as Portugal. Kind of a great divide in the regions, right? Well the method for making the sauce most likely originated in Portugal and was brought to the African continent via settlers. Who knows but what is important is that it taste great.

The sauce itself is a bit on the hot side of hot sauces with vinegary and mustard overtones. I actually use Nando’s Peri-Peri bottled hot sauce for this recipe and I suggest you try to find it if . You can order it on-line and it can be found in many specialty food markets. But if you can’t find it or want to make your own, I have included a recipe that approximates the taste.

What? Can’t find African bird’s eye chili peppers at your local grocer? Well frankly they are very hard to come by but just substitute Scotch Bonnets, habanero, Serrano or even jalapenos. Just make sure they have matured (turned red) before using.

Peri-peri sauce is also fantastic on fish, pork and beef so save any left-over sauce if you make your own, or buy extra if you get Nando’s version.

INGREDIENTS:

For the peri-peri sauce if you can’t find Nando’s

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh red chili peppers (preferably African bird’s eye chilies)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup olive oil (Spanish if possible)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the chicken wings

• 3 lbs chicken drumettes, washed and pat dry
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon

For the wing sauce

• 1/2 stick butter
• 4 oz peri-peri sauce (either Nando’s or from this recipe)
• juice of 1 lemon
• a dash of angostura bitters
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey

PREPARATION:

For the peri-peri sauce

After mincing the garlic, sprinkle it with the salt and using the flat side of a large knife, mash and grind the garlic into a paste. Add the peppers and continue mashing and grinding. Place this mash into a bowl and mix in the mustard. Then slowly whisk in the vinegar then the oil until the sauce is a bit emulsified.

For the chicken wings

Toss the wings with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil to coat. Marinate the wings for at least and hour but over night is best. Now you can cook the wings anyway you know best. I grilled these but I am a big fan of frying them crispy. You choose. Check this post for tips on frying.

For the wing sauce

Melt the butter in a small pot, add the remaining ingredients and stir. Transfer wings to a large bowl and toss in the sauce to coat. I would forgo the blue cheese or ranch with these, just squeeze more lemons over them and serve.

Serves 2 – 4

Heat Factor