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Jerk Chicken

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Now I have a passion for Indian, Mexican and all food as you have probably guessed. But there is another love in my life Jerk Chicken, after all variety is the spice of life :-) If you know me personally I have a habit of changing stuff up ;-) So how about a Caribbean dinner? Jerk Chicken is perfect finger food, or served as a meal plated with rice & peas. But my goto with this is Macoroni Cheeses Pie — comfort food at it's best! I say 'cheeses' because I use more than one type of cheese lol! Good news is you can find my Macoroni Pie in Vege Bakin' from the main menu along with rice & Peas as well.

"A word of warning" I cut my chillies in half prepared for the photographer and wiped my hands on a tissue. A while later I wiped my nose DO NOT DO THIS! Scotch Bonnet chillies are lethal to any part of the skin. Let this be a warning to you... Yes there were tears! It's often advised to wear latex gloves when handling hot chillies, but Hey! Ho! That advice fell on deaf ears on this occasion, d'oh!

Click the Method tab below to see a step by step guide on how to make Jerk Chicken with a few pictures as a guide.

jerk chicken macaroni pie served 02

ingredients

Here's what you need :¬)

serves 3 - 6

  • 6 large chicken legs slashed into 3 to 4 times

fresh ingredients to blitz for the marinade

  • 2 scotch bonnet chilli's finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 inch piece of fresh ginger finely chopped
  • 3 spring onions finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp Lime juice

dry ingredients for the marinade

  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Allspice (Pimento)
  • 1 tsp Thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp Nutmeg
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper corns

method

Now as with Indian food — prepare to succeed!

Indian food & Caribbean is the same process, if you do not prepare and get all your stuff out up front — it's going to create stress!!! You're going to miss something, then you will not enjoy the cooking process — taking in the aroma of dinner roasting away with all the prep' and mess gone. Tough to learn, but if you ever had 100 people turning, up never mind two, and your in a mess it's a bit of a nightmare. Prepare — get done — wash up — then cook & enjoy the process, the satisfaction you'll feel once that process is mastered and your guests arrive you will be chilled and confident — and not a ready meal in sight!

ingredients for jerk chicken paste
jerk ingredients

Ingredients out chopping, board ready to go. I will grind all my spices in my electric spice grinder and chop everything in my blender. But Hey! Ho! If the knife is your way it's gotta be a really fine dice, then you will need to form a paste by bashing the diced fresh ingredients up in a pestle and mortar, or you could even crush them up on a chopping board with a rolling pin or heavy pan. Then you add your ground spices to the fresh ground stuff to make your Jerk paste, but, investing in gadgets is my passion — Oh! That & good food! So I'll mince my fresh ingredients in the food blender and then just tip my ground spices into it and give them a blitz to mix them all together to make the Jerk paste.

  1. Cut the green ends off the spring onions
  2. Slice into discs & set aside
  3. Finely dice or mince the fresh ingredients for the marinade in a food processor
  4. Combine the fresh marinade ingredients with ground spices
  5. Put your chicken into a container
  6. Tip the Jerk marinade onto the chicken
  7. Rub into the chicken all over
  8. Cover and put in the fridge for 6 to 12 hours min'
  9. Remove from the fridge at least 30mins before needed
  10. Pre-heat the oven to 180c
  11. Place the chicken on a roasting tray
place in a roasting tin
jerked chicken legs oven ready
  1. Roast for 30 - 45 mins, dependinng on size
  2. Turn over after 15 mins
  3. Sprinkle with the green ends of spring onions
turn the chicken after 15 min's
half cooked jerk chicken
  1. Put the chicken back in the oven
  2. Check the chicken is cooked before serving *

*Chicken temperature should be around 82c in the thickest part of the meat.

jerk chicken
jerk chicken plated
jerk chicken & macaroni pie
jerk chicken macaroni pie served
served with jerk sauce from the roasting tin
jerk chicken & macaroni pie
jerk chicken amcaroni pie plated
Serve with a smile :-)

See 'Vege Bakin' from the main menu' for my macaroni cheeses pie recipe.

Most importantly, enjoy!