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SALSA MACHA CHICKEN THIGHS

Becca Jacobs

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 cup of peanuts

  • 3 dried ancho chilis, rehydrated and stems removed

  • 1 lime, juiced

  • 8 oz can of chipotles in adobo sauce

  • 1 inch of ginger, peeled and chopped

  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 3/4 cup of neutral oil

  • 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (1.5 to 2 pounds)

instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325F

  2. Add peanuts to a skillet on medium heat and lightly charr, this should take about 5 minutes

    reference the picture below for the color you’re looking for on the peanuts

  3. Add the following into the bowl of your food processor: peanuts/ rehydrated ancho chilis/ lime juice/ chipotles in adobo/ ginger/ sugar/ and salt

  4. Blend the food processor until you get a course paste, then scrape down the sides of the food processor base. While the food processor is running stream in the oil.

  5. Scrape down the sides again and run your food processor, repeating until you have a loose peanut-butter-like consistency

  6. Add the chicken thighs to a dutch oven or oven-safe skillet and pour the contents of your food processor in. Thoroughly coat the chicken thighs in the salsa macha sauce.

  7. Place the lid on your dutch oven or tightly cover your skillet with tin foil and roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

  8. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes after removing it from the oven and then shred, discard the bones, and enjoy! Add a base of rice and some fresh slaw and make it a burrito bowl, or eat it as a taco like the recipe photo shows.

Notes

  • Salsa Macha is a spicy and flavor-packed chili oil that hails from Veracruz, this recipe is inspired by the chili oil but instead of frying our chilis and peanuts in oil, we are blending and braising them along with the chicken

  • The sauce might taste a little aggressive before you put it in the oven but I promise after almost two hours of cook time, it will mellow out and become full of flavor and not just heat.