>> Recipe - Caribbean Jerk Chicken

Jerk is a style of cooking where meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a hot spice mixture. The term jerk was derived from the Spanish word charqui meaning dried meat, which eventually became jerky in English or biltong is Afrikaans... To be honest, I don't really see the "dried meat" connection in the dish that I made, but is was still pretty good, so good that even a jerk will say it was good :-))) (yeaaah, I'm not too good at telling jokes am I...) Anyways, this chicken is utterly delicious, so easy to make and is the perfect mid-week alternative to the regular old baked chicken. Plus it smells pretty fabulous too, you'll want to move to Jamaica. Serve this dish with some Jamaican fried rice and green veggies.

Prepare the marinade

1–2 Scotch bonnet chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1tsp ground cloves
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground nutmeg
2tsp ground allspice
5–7 thyme sprigs, leaves only (you will need about 2 tbsp)
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

Ingredients for cooking the chicken

4 large chicken legs, skin on, cut into drumsticks and thighs

Olive oil, for frying

2tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Rice, to serve

4–5 thyme sprigs, to garnish (optional)

 

Method

1. First prepare the marinade by combining all the ingredients with a good grinding of black pepper and a dash of oil. Rub the marinade into the chicken pieces, massaging it into the scored meat. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour (or, better still, overnight).
2. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7.
3. Heat a large ovenproof pan over a medium-high heat and add a dash of oil. Fry the chicken pieces for about 10 minutes until golden brown on all sides. Add the Worcestershire sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Cover with an ovenproof lid or foil and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until cooked through (if your pan isn’t ovenproof, simply transfer the chicken to a roasting tray). Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes if the chicken needs colouring a little more.
5. Serve the chicken hot with rice.