My Divinely Crisp Jerk Chicken

'This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor

Welcome and entertain them all!'

Rumi

'Were you cooking curry the other day?'

'No.. no.. curry..'

'Its just that there was this smell coming from your house..'

'Oh... you mean the jerk chicken!'

'Must Be! It Smelled So Good!'

'I'll send you round some of the extra marinade! It was Divine!' 

(It really was!)

Turns out my wonderful neighbour (yes, the same one that drops countless amounts of food at my door) may have been slightly disappointed the morning after I had guests when I sent round some baked hummus that I had extra of rather than whatever the amazing curry smell was. Truth is, all the delicious flavours were completely devoured and there was none left for sharing. So. I have decided to share this wonderful recipe. (And also given her the extra marinade)! 

Nigella was very forgiving in her write up, highlighting that hers could never come anywhere near close to meeting the requirements for real Jamaican Jerk Chicken... Which is fair to say, and more than ever my changes to this recipe (or thousands of recipe's that I found) have perhaps rendered it slightly unrecognisable to any Jamaican (you will see what I mean in a bit...) 

Its true, my garden is far too small to have this epic corregated metal barbecue, green woods that protect and add flavour to the chicken. I know what street Jerk Chicken Tastes like... and it is amazing. A feast for your tongue full of amazing sizzling flavours. I had to start finding recipes.... that eventually I had to adapt.

To my own surprise instead of regular English Roast Chicken (which is equally as delicious, but with honourable guests visiting, just wasn't exciting enough... in my head)... I found myself on the WikiHow page to Jerk?!?! Shock horror! How did that happen?

Anyway... turns out it had the simplest most straight forward recipe that I could use and also adapt as I found other recipes such as Nigella's version, or advice from Serious Eats, understanding that I could never get this perfect, and Jerk Chicken is probably akin to Tai Chi for the Chinese.. every family has their own recipe that comes down from a long line of secret ancestors that sacrificed their Warrior blood to keep the Truth hidden. 

I was lucky enough to have a housemate that regularly made Jerk Chicken (As well as many other friends), ... we can pretend these are my ancestors... though I never stuck around long enough to learn the recipe.. 

As an amateur this is the first time I am EVER using Allspice. I never knew it came from a berry! Kind of Epic for a novice ;)

So I thought, time to make my own :)

Are you ready?

Spicy Tips!

 My adaptations to the recipe as I find it the easiest way to remember that; we don't always have everything at hand, everything can be done slightly differently, and there are some things, that just can never be left out!

All of the recipe's indicated that this should be eaten with Rice and Peas.. and yet (shock horror again...) I am really not a fan of Rice and Peas.. or Kidney beans at the moment so... This wonderful dish was served with the Amazing Focaccia Bread, Freshly baked Hummus, Lebne, Yogurt, Beetroot Salad and a whole lotta love! (I had made some basmati rice just in case there wasn't enough food... but it was just right!) I have to say there was a bit of Italy, Turkey Jamaica, France, Germany either on the table or sat round the table... delicious! and what wonderful company! 

My Confession, that goes against all Jerk Chicken recipes has to do with this wonderful yellow (green or red) baby. Scotch Bonnet. 

I have a fear of it. And for my wonderful benefit, it doesn't grow anywhere near me, or is sold anywhere near here.. so I had to go to the next best thing - Cayenne Pepper.. that I recognise and know how to distribute in food. One day, I will be able to use the Scotch Bonnet, just not right now!

- If you can Barbeque this recipe, the added smoky flavour will further bring this to life, but as I haven't done it myself on the BBQ, this recipe uses the traditional cooking instructions for a perfect Roast Chicken.. the meat turns out tender and crispy.. YUM!

- The Longer you Marinate this baby for, the better! I did mine for 5 hours, some say overnight. 

- This Marinade can be kept in your fridge for a Long time, so if you don't use it all (I didn't use all of mine), you can put it in a container and keep it there until the next time (or give it to your neighbour!)

- I had to warn my guests that the chicken does in fact look burnt! But isnt... (The Dervish has now finally gotten used to my experiments such as the Burning Sweet Heart Apple Cake) so he chuckled nervously infront of our guests... only to end up with a stomach later for having devoured too much!

- I also added Worcester Sauce to this recipe - remembering how, when in Mexico, they would add this t

o the meat to give it a delicious sweet tang YUM. However, I would say that it is optional.

- I would recommend letting yourself be flexible with this recipe... if you like more ginger... go for it! If you cant stand chilli, or want more, then go ahead! Why not! It will turn out delicious anyhow... believe me!

- Some recipe's called for ground cloves (which I completely agree will add delicious flavour to this) so I have added it on the ingredients list.. but again is optional.. and I cant vouch for how it tastes!

- Some recommend using chicken breast for this recipe... I perhaps would vouch more for wings, thighs legs etc... however, I am sure than any, or a mix of these would also be fine.

- Used an invented combination of Jamie's Method amongst others for roasting the Perfect Chicken to get the meat just right... other ways are BBQ, grilling (if you dont have an oven or a grill, my neighbour is trying out in a frying pan....) but I have to say, Jamie's temperature and timing was almost spot on even though I was making wings and thighs instead of a full chicken. I combined this with an idea to lock up all the juices in tin Foil and then open it up to crisp on the outer shell for the second bit... This worked a treat and I will be using it over and over again...

- Serve with lemons or lime to add some tang!

Divinely Crisp Jerk Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Ground Allspice (Pimento berry)

1/2 Cup+ Brown Sugar

6-8 Crushed Garlic Cloves

2-3 Scotch Bonnet Peppers (I replaced this with a comfortable amount of Cayenne Pepper - 1/2 tsp)

2 Onions (or 2 bunches of green onions)
2 tbsp Thyme Leaves

2 tsp Cinammon

1 tsp Nutmeg

2 tsp Ginger

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tbsp Soy Sauce to Moisten

2 tbsp Worcester Sauce

2-4 Cloves (optional)
4 tbsp Olive oil or Butter
2 cups of chicken stock
Lemons to garnish and serve

1 kg of Chicken Wigs, thighs and legs

Method:

1. Place the allspice, brown sugar, garlic, pepper, thyme, onion, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt and pepper, soy sauce and Worcester Sauce, Olive Oil or butter in a food processor and pulse until smooth. 
2. Rub the chicken (this can also be used with beef, tuna or Salmon) with the marinade. Make sure you rub under the skin and in the cavities. 
3.  Marinate between 2 hours and overnight.. the more the better
4. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 8, while preparing your other bits (I was busy with the focaccia, hummus, etc) .. I would say roughly for around 15 minutes
5. Put tin foil on the underside of a deep baking tray making sure that there is at least 1 inch of foil covering each edge.
6. Place the chicken on the foil, and pour the steaming stock around it.
7. Cover the chicken with more foil, this time folding the foil together, creating an air tight vacuum for the chicken to cook in
8. Place the chicken in the oven and reduce to Gas Mark 7 for 1 hour, 
9. After an hour, take foil off the chicken, and baste it
10. Put the chicken back in the oven uncovered and bake for a further 35 minutes until crispy
11. Transfer the chicken onto a serving plate and devour!

Yum!

Remember to serve it with Love!