Good for you! I love when this kind of thing happens. Often those 'secret sauces' are so simple and basic sauces that are readily available, especially on the web. Yay!

Isn't it wonderful when you find or can recreate something from a favorite restaurant!
That's how my blue cheese dressing came about....and now I am working on a certain creamy seafood mexican enchilada filling... But the restaurant has closed....and I am finding it harder and harder to "remember" the taste.

Peruvian-Style Roast Chicken #1

4 pound whole chicken

For the chicken:

3 TBSP olive oil

1/4 cup lime juice, from 2 limes

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 TBSP salt

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp black pepper

1 TBSP cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp sugar

For the green sauce:

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

2 cloves garlic roughly chopped

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 TBSP fresh lime juice, from one lime

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

2 TBSP olive oil

For the chicken:

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Remove giblets and pat the outside dry; place in a bowl, breast side up with the legs facing you. Use the handle of a wooden spoon or your fingers, loosen the skin from the flesh over the breasts and legs, being careful not to tear the skin or push all the way through. Spoon 2/3 of the marinade evenly underneath the skin and spread the remaining 1/3 evenly over the skin. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 425°. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Spray a rack with non-stick cooking spray and place the chicken on top. Tie the legs together with kitchen string. Roast for 20 minutes, until the skin is golden. Turn heat down to 375° and continue to roast for about an hour and ten minutes more, or until the juices run clear (if it browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil). Tent the chicken with foil and let rest for about 20 minutes. Tilt the chicken over the roasting pan to drain the juices, then transfer to a cutting board. Carve the chicken and serve with green sauce.

For the green sauce:

Combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender and blend into a smooth sauce. With the motor running, open lid and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. It will seem very runny at this point, but will thicken up as it sits. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Donna, this is very strange. I also got that NYT email. I didn't need a subscription to see the recipe though.

That IS odd, Sherri.

Chinese Pink Sauce:

2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup ketchup

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3-6 TBSP dry mustard (depends on how hot you like it - I used 6!)

Mix all ingredients in a blender until thick (about 2 minutes). Chill.

Sherri, sometimes if you have the right software and/or a direct link in, you can bypass the gatekeeper program.

Donna, congrats! Very cool that you were able to find these.

I was thinking you were referring to the one I've been looking for but it's translucent and has red flakes in it which I assume are peppers. Some versions of that one are also very sugary, but most are a little sweet and ear-meltingly hot. :)

I don't remember ever encountering Mar Far chicken. Can you describe it beyond the sauce? Thanks!

It was exciting to read about your discoveries and glad the recipes are posted, going to try it! Do you think either sauce would freeze well? They sound yummy!

HB, I've never tried freezing the Mar Far sauce, but I would think it should freeze nicely. I do think that after thawing, you would probably need to give it another round in the blender because of the oil. I usually halve or even quarter the recipe, because DH is a wimp when it comes to heat, so a little goes a long way.

The green sauce, on the other hand, made just enough to fill an 8 oz. canning jar, with enough left over for a good helping on the two wraps I initially put it on. I should think that sauce would freeze as well, but I'd probably give it a whir in the blender as well, after thawing.

I've tried several times to post the second recipe for the chicken that I found, which calls for roasting the chicken whole, and spatchcocking it, and the ingredients are a little different, but I keep getting the message that there are too many characters. I even got that message when I tried to post the pink sauce recipe! I'll try again later.

Pillog, I've had Mar Far chicken at several area restaurants, but it is usually blah. Bing knew how to season! Some places use chicken chunks, but Bing only used wings, which he cut into two (and used the tips for something else, I'm sure). They were dipped into a tasty batter and deep fried. They were fluffy and crunchy at the same time. Shirley filled used ketchup bottles with the sauce and it was always on the tables. It was thick and just like ketchup, sometimes you would have to wait for it to come out of the bottle and when it finally "glopped" out, you might end up with more than you expected. So, I'd just swipe other things on my plate into the sauce. I love heat, so I thought it was good on just about everything, LOL.

Peruvian-Style Roasted Chicken #2

For the chicken:

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 TBSP ground cumin

1 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided

2 lemons

1 (4-4.5 lb) chicken

For the green sauce:

1 cup packed cilantro leaves

1-2 medium jalapenos, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 TBSP olive oil

2 and 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup mayonnaise

Arrange rack in middle of oven; preheat to 400 degrees F. Mix garlic, cumin, oil, paprika, pepper, oregano, 1/2 tsp salt and finely grated zest from 1 lemon in a medium bowl. Quarter second lemon; set aside 2 quarters. Squeeze juice from 1 whole lemon and remaining 2 quarters to yield 2 TBSP juice; stir into spice mixture.

Spatchcock chicken. Turn chicken breast side up and splay open. Press down on breastbone with palms until you hear it crack and chicken is as flat as possible. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Rub chicken all over with 2 reserved lemon quarters. Squeeze juice over bird, then rub skin all over with insides of rind.

Loosen skin from breasts and thighs, being careful not to tear skin. Gently spread 2 heaping TBSP spice mixture under skin (reserve remaining spice mixture), then season chicken all over with remaining 1 tsp. salt. Transfer chicken, skin side up, to a roasting pan. Loosen skin from breasts and thighs, being careful not to tear skin. Gently spread 2 heaping TBSP spice mixture under skin (reserve remaining spice mixture), then season chicken all over with remaining 1 tsp. salt. Transfer chicken, skin side up, to a roasting pan.

Roast chicken 20 minutes, then brush with spice mixture and pan juices. Continue roasting, basting with spice mixture and pan juices every 20 minutes, until juices run clear or an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165 degrees F, 50-60 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest 15 minutes, reserving pan juices.

Make the green sauce: Puree all ingredients except mayonnaise in a blender. Add mayonnaise, blend well. Transfer to a small bowl and chill until ready to use. Green sauce can be made 5 days ahead.

Thanks, Donna, for the description! We have a few places like that near me, where it's all about what the owners cook and serve, like they're hosts rather than chefs. :) Sooo good!

RE: NYT recipes. You get so many free looks before they start to charge you.

Well, I guess I look a lot, LOL.

That chicken looks delicious, Donna. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Re: NYT recipes, I came across one the other day that I wanted to see but there was a bit Subscribe now page over it. I never, ever look at NYT, this is a first, but I had to subscribe. I didn't bother.

Jasdip, if you name the recipe you were interested in at NYT, I could try to screen shot it and post it for you.

Also, if you see a recipe you're interested in at NYT, you can just google the recipe and add + NYT and other websites will inevitably have posted it, saying it came from NYT.

When you hit the "you got to pay" link, just clear cookies from your browser and they won't know it is you.