Jerk chicken with rice & peas
Ingredients:
- Chicken Thighs - 12
- Lime - 1/2
- Spring Onions - 1 bunch
- Ginger - 1 tbs chopped
- Garlic - 3 cloves
- Onion - 1/2
- Red Chilli - 3 chopped
- Thyme - 1/2 teaspoon
- Lime - Juice of 1
- Soy Sauce - 2 tbs
- Vegetable Oil - 2 tbs
- Brown Sugar - 3 tbs
- Allspice - 1 tbs
- Basmati Rice - 200g
- Coconut Milk - 400g
- Spring Onions - 1 bunch
- Thyme - 2 sprigs
- Garlic - 2 cloves chopped
- Allspice - 1 tbs
- Kidney Beans - 800g
Instructions
- To make the jerk marinade, combine all the ingredients in a food processor along with 1 tsp salt, and blend to a purée
- If you’re having trouble getting it to blend, just keep turning off the blender, stirring the mixture, and trying again
- Eventually it will start to blend up – don’t be tempted to add water, as you want a thick paste
- Taste the jerk mixture for seasoning – it should taste pretty salty, but not unpleasantly, puckering salty
- You can now throw in more chillies if it’s not spicy enough for you
- If it tastes too salty and sour, try adding in a bit more brown sugar until the mixture tastes well balanced
- Make a few slashes in the chicken thighs and pour the marinade over the meat, rubbing it into all the crevices
- Cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge
- If you want to barbecue your chicken, get the coals burning 1 hr or so before you’re ready to cook
- Authentic jerked meats are not exactly grilled as we think of grilling, but sort of smoke-grilled
- To get a more authentic jerk experience, add some wood chips to your barbecue, and cook your chicken over slow, indirect heat for 30 mins
- To cook in the oven, heat to 180C/160C fan/gas 4
- Put the chicken pieces in a roasting tin with the lime halves and cook for 45 mins until tender and cooked through
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rice & peas
- Rinse the rice in plenty of cold water, then tip it into a large saucepan with all the remaining ingredients except the kidney beans
- Season with salt, add 300ml cold water and set over a high heat
- Once the rice begins to boil, turn it down to a medium heat, cover and cook for 10 mins
- Add the beans to the rice, then cover with a lid
- Leave off the heat for 5 mins until all the liquid is absorbed
- Squeeze the roasted lime over the chicken and serve with the rice & peas, and some hot sauce if you like it really spicy