5.02.2009

Jerk Chicken and Jamaican Rice and Peas


For some reason I had a hankering for Jerk Chicken.

When I was in my early twenties I lived in Boise for a couple of years. One of my short-lived jobs was at a little deli called Neville and Neville. Their main specialty was Jerk Chicken. They slow cooked it every day in a huge rotisserie oven. It was outstanding! Such wonderful, sweet, tangy, spicy flavor!


So, I did a little online research and came up with my own version of Jerk Chicken. In case you want to take a peek, I found most of my information here.


So, here is what I used for my Jerk Marinade:
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • juice from 1 lime
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced
  • 5 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 Serrano peppers chopped
  • several thyme sprigs chopped
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp all-spice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
Pour everything into a blender and mix briefly to combine. Place 3-4 lbs of boneless chicken into a Ziploc bag or large bowl. Pour marinade over chicken and marinade at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove chicken (saving marinade) and place onto a medium grill. Cook thoroughly, turning often. (I was grilling this during a thunder and lightening storm! That was a little crazy!)

Strain your marinade into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until reduced by half. This will be a basting and dipping sauce for your chicken.


The rice is a bit tricky because I couldn't find a recipe that would specifically tell me how much water to use. I followed this Bobby Flay recipe fairly closely but, again, he didn't say how much water to use so I changed the directions just a bit. I find these directions to be a little more clear for me to follow but you can do it Bobby's way if you wish. This was just easier for me.

You will need the following:

1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup red beans
1 1/2 cups long grain rice (I used Jasmine.)
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 can light coconut milk
3 green onions
2 sprigs thyme
1 Serrano pepper (I couldn't find Scotch Bonnet.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Rinse beans. Cover with water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse. Place your beans and garlic in a pan and cover with water. Cook until tender (about 1 hour). Drain. Bring 2 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 can of coconut milk to a boil. Add rice, beans, whole onions. thyme sprigs, uncut Serrano pepper, salt and pepper. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Remove your pepper, thyme and onions and serve.

I also served a simple salad with this. For the dressing, I doctored up a Jalapeno Ranch dressing I had with a little lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

Oh, and by the way, Dar at Girlchef is having a fabulous cookbook giveaway! Run on over there right away to find out the details! :0)

15 comments:

mysteryhistorymom said...

Amazing! We had Jerk Chicken for the first time years ago on our honeymoon in Bermuda. It was fabulous! I cannot wait to try your recipe!:) Lori

Heather S-G said...

This sounds very tasty...and I love that you were grilling in a storm (how romantic...I know, I'm weird)! I spy a chile in this recipe...you could enter it in my giveaway (that was a not-so-subtle hint...wink, wink).

Clare said...

How cool to have your own recipe. I will have to try. To be honest, the jerk chicken that I make uses the jerk seasoning, just add the vinegar, soy etc. Yours is much more varied and interesting. I never had jerk chicken until I moved to the states.

Michelle said...

Hi Kim! Nice to hear from you and thanks for commenting on my blog today. Well now that I've discovered another wonderful food blog, I need to change my resolution to "aggressively exercise those pounds off to off-set all these food blogs". LOL! This jerk chicken sounds absolutely yummy! I will definitely be back!!

Have a great weekend. :)

Michelle

Mary Bergfeld said...

Kim, this looks delicious. It's so nice to have your own spice mixtures. This sounds wonderful and I can get all the ingredients I need to make the chicken and rice at any supermarket.

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Hi Kim!
Wow - that sounds fabulous! If I was Oprah I would pay you a zillion dollars to be my personal chef. Ahhh, I can imagine it right now...

XOXO
jen

AiringMyLaundry said...

Mmmmm...

The name Jerk Chicken amuses me :)

Donna-FFW said...

Oh My!! This dish sounds absolutely fantastic!! I truly love this one and am bookmarking it!

teresa said...

It is with shame that I admit to never trying jerk chicken, so I will definitely be try this soon. You lived in Boise? I lived in Pocatello for a very long portion of my life. It was a nice place to live, but it was also nice to get away for a while!

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

Two serrano peppers?Wow-that's my kinda recipe,I think I have most of the ingredients at home(except for the nutmeg :)

Dewi said...

Sounds so delicious. I love to make my jerk spice too.

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

I LOVE jerk chicken! Never tackled making it though. Maybe I'll give this mission to the hubs!

Kathy B! said...

This looks fantastic. I've never tried to jerkify anything before but this looks so yummy!

And how do you stay so thin cooking all this good food?!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it, at least for now. said...

You blog leaves me feeling so hungry! :)

Chef E said...

I just saw the magic words- Bobby Flay...I love things like this. I have not posted it yet, but I used a spicy rub for chicken we had for dinner tonight...with rice of course like your lovely plate of food!

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