Jamican Jerk

Over the past few months I've noticed lots of blogs and tv shows that have been making Jamaican Jerk Chicken, with rice & peas and fried plantain. Anytime I've had jerk chicken I've loved it so it only seemed right to try this complete dish, so I set about trying to find plantain. I hunted and hunted for about 3 or 4 weeks and gave up, just when I did I happened to spot them! The lesson - give up searching sooner and you'll get what you're looking for.

I had bookmarked a recipe from We are never full when I had seen it a while ago so looked it up straight away and got cooking.

Cooking everything was all very straightforward and kept me busy in the kitchen for a bit while Rob was playing some xbox and it all came together at the same time. It was very tasty however the jerk may just have been a little too spicy for my tastes but that's easily fixed in future.



Jamaican Jerk Chicken

SERVES 2-3

Ingredients
2 breasts of chicken, skin on
2 legs of chicken, skin on
2 tbsp. allspice
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 scotch bonnet pepper (or other spicy hot pepper)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup of cilantro (you can substitute 1 teaspoon coriander seed)
juice of 1 lime
splash of orange juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 scallions
1 teaspoon soy sauce
pinch of salt and pepper

Recipe
1. Grind the spices down with a spice grinder. Then blend all the ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Adjust the amount of oil to make it a thick paste.
2. Rub this on your chicken and leave to marinate for at least an hour.
3. Cook your chicken pieces at 200˚C for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until juices run clear. For the last minute, crisp it up on a hot frying pan.

Rice and Peas

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 cup white rice
1 can red kidney beans
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic
1 scallion, sliced
chicken stock OR 1 can coconut milk and water

Recipe
1. Sauté the onion and garlic on medium heat for a few minutes then add the rice, scallions and beans and stir together.
2. Pour enough chicken stock/coconut milk & water over your rice that it comes up the width of 2 fingers above the level of the uncooked rice.
3. Bring to the boil and allow to cook down until it reaches the level of the rice, stir ONCE, turn your heat to low and cover. Cook on low for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes your rice will be perfect, give it a stir and enjoy.

Tostones (Fried Green Plantain)

Ingredients
2 Green Plantain
Vegetable oil
salt

Recipe
1. Heat the oil in a pan. It needs to be about 1/2-3/4" deep.
2. Peel plantains and cut on the diagonal, about 3/4" thick.
3. Fry the plantain once for about 2-3 minutes. Dry on paper towels, then give each a smash with a mallet. Return to pan and fry for another 2 minutes.
4. Drain and serve seasoned with a little salt.

Thanks to We are never full for this recipe.

I've used this as my entry for my Bookmarked Recipes food blog event for this week.