Jerk Chicken

Recipe

If you are familiar with any aspect of  Caribbean food its probably Jerk. There are so many different recipes for Jerk out there, and this is mine. People say you only get the real jerk taste if you bbq the meat, the same can be said for tandoori chicken, which tastes best when made in a tandoor. I made my Jerk chicken in the oven, we don't always have the bbq ready to go or a tandoor sitting in the corner.

Ingredients

Serves 6

The Dry Spices

1 tbsp whole pimento (allspice berries), ground
1 tbsp black peppercorns, ground
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp dark drown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt

1 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
4 cloves garlic
3 inch thumb ginger
4 spring onions, whites and most of the green part
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime

Chicken, either on whole chicken cut into 8 pieces, 6 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick attached), 6 thighs and 6 drumsticks or 12 drum sticks.

Scotch bonnet peppers (1 for mild, 2 for a medium heat, 3-5 for a good kick) sometimes I go 1/2 a scotch bonnet per piece of meat. I used 6 for this recipe.

On this occasion I used 24 drum sticks so I just doubled everything in the recipe.

Method

1. Add all of the dry spices together and mix well

2. In a food processor, whizz the garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet peppers and spring onions to a puree.

3. Add all of dry ingredients to the  food processor, along with the thyme leaves, honey, soy sauce and lime juice and whizz to combine.

4. pour the marinade into a big bowl then add the chicken and massage into the meat. I recommend wearing gloves when handling scotch bonnet peppers. Leave to marinate overnight in the fridge. 

5. An hour before baking, take the chicken out of the fridge.

6. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. bake the chicken for 25 minutes or until cooked, turn halfway through. 

7. Enjoy.

The chicken was a success, the "heat" level was a point of debate, it was just right for some and far to hot for others. Either way the ice cold bears and drinks went down well with the chicken!