I've made jerk chicken a number of times, and have been gradually tweaking the recipe each time. I don't have a garden alas, so can't do this on the barbeque. If you do have one, I would definitely recommend cooking the chicken on there in place of the griddle pan, as you'll get incredible smokey flavour that will complement the lovely acidic and spicy flavours of the delicious marinade. If however, like me, you don't have access to one, hopefully this recipe will mean you can still make incredible tasting jerk chicken without one. I'm not 100% on how authentic this recipe is, but I have really enjoyed eating it every time I've made it. It's exactly the kind of food I love to cook and eat. Here's the recipe!
Ingredients (Serves 4):
1kg Chicken thigh and drumstick - skin on, bone in
1/2 large pineapple
30g coriander
10g parsley
500g basmati rice
1 tin black beans, drained
1 tin coconut milk
2 red chillis
1 small red onion
3 limes, zest and juice
For the Marinade
3 tbsp all spice
2 limes, zest and juice
3 large cloves garlic
Large knob of ginger
1 scotch bonnet chilli
2 tbsp brown sugar
15g coriander
15g parsley
Method:
Begin by making the marinade. Put all ingredients in a food processor (ensuring to add both the zest and juice of each lime), along with a good glug of neutral oil, a splash of water and plenty of salt and pepper, and blend until a paste is formed.
Score your chicken pieces deeply using a knife all over. Place in a large zip lock bag, then pour the marinade over the chicken. Close the bag, and leave in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
To prepare the pineapple salsa, chop the pineapple into 1cm chunks. Finely dice 1 red chilli (leave the seeds and pith in for extra heat), and finely chop 15g of coriander. Finely dice the small red onion. Put the onion in a bowl, and pour over boiling water, leaving for 5 minutes before draining. Mix the pineapple, drained red onion, chilli, coriander and the zest and juice of 1 lime in a bowl, along with some salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil. Season to taste.
Preheat an oven to 180C. Add in a large baking tin with plenty of rapeseed oil (any neutral oil with a high smoke point will be fine). Take out your chicken and pat off any excess marinade before placing the chicken skin side down into the tray of hot oil. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes - it should be about 60-80% cooked through. NOTE: Any excess marinade you have, place in a saucepan - we will come back to this later.
Meanwhile, finely chop 1/2 red chilli (seeds and pith removed), along with the remaining coriander and parsley. Zest 1 lime. Set aside to stir through the rice later on.
Preheat a griddle pan on a medium/high heat. Once the chicken is 60-80% cooked, place it onto the griddle pan. Cook for 5-10 minutes, constantly turning it to avoid it burning in places, until deeply coloured on all sides. Cover in kitchen foil and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
To cook the rice, pour the coconut milk into a saucepan, fill nearly to the top with boiling water and bring to a rolling boil. Rinse the basmati rice thoroughly before adding into the coconut milk/water. Cook for 8-9 minutes, until the rice is cooked through. 2 minutes before the rice is done, add in the drained black beans. NOTE: Before draining the rice, pour a little bit of the cooking liquid into the saucepan with the reserved marinade. Bring to a simmer and reduce until thickened.
Drain the rice, then mix in the coriander, parsley, lime zest and lime juice, as well as a good pinch of seasoning.
To serve, pile the rice and peas, place a couple of pieces of chicken on top, and spoon over the reduced marinade. Serve with pineapple salsa and coriander to garnish.
Absolutely loved tweaking and writing this recipe. I really hope you enjoy making it and as always, I'd love it if you stuck a picture up on instagram, tagging me @OTCooks_Eats in there if you do make it. Hopefully it can bring a bit of Caribbean sunshine into your day!
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