Jerk chicken was something I’d heard of but knew nothing about. But you know how chicken gets boring. I thought I’d look at some recipes online and see if it was doable, kosher-wise. (Yay! It was.)
When I served my personal rendition of jerk chicken, cobbled together from the various recipes I’d found online, my family got excited. They knew this was something different, and it looked and smelled GOOD.
Guess what? It WAS good, and I totally plan to make it again. As is traditional, I served the jerk chicken over coconut rice (recipe to follow next week). Both were deemed fabulous.
Jerk Chicken
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch scallions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 T. brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ t. ground allspice
- 1 t. thyme
- ½ t. cinnamon
- 1 t. salt
- 1 3-4 lb. broiler, cut into 10 pieces (breasts cut in half
- (Oil for grill)
Method:
- Slice one scallion thinly. Reserve for garnish.
- Place remaining scallions and the rest of the ingredients through the salt, into a blender. Add 2 T. water and blend until smooth. Reserve ¼ cup.
- Place chicken pieces in shallow nonreactive dish and sprinkle with salt. Pour the marinade over the chicken, toss to coat, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate from 2 hours, to overnight, depending on how much time you have. Turn the chicken once or twice during the marination period.
- Grill the marinated chicken under the broiler in your oven, not too close to the element, or on an outdoor grill that has been brushed with a bit of oil. Cook the chicken, turning once, for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is charred in spots.
- If finishing the chicken in the oven, bake at 350° for 15-30 minutes or until chicken is tender and juices run clear.
- If cooking on an outdoor grill, move the chicken to a cooler spot on the grill and brush with the reserved marinade. Cover and grill for another 10-15 minutes or until chicken is tender and juices run clear.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with reserved sliced scallion, over coconut rice (stayed tuned for upcoming recipe).