It’s OK to be a Jerk…So Long As You Are a Chicken
We had a reader request for something with jerk spices. He asked; we delivered.
Menu: jerk chicken, mayo-less slaw, fried plantains, over rice.
Rei and I went to the market on Thursday and picked up the ingredients for the meal with the exception of the plantains. Zeke had to get those from Whole Foods on Friday because Key Market (our local market) didn’t have any.
Rei cut up the whole chicken while I worked on the marinade. I think I’ve gotten past my disgust of raw meat because I didn’t have any trouble with it at all! Yay, progress!
All of the ingredients went into the blender. Lemon juice, cinnamon, fresh thyme, chopped scallions, chopped onion, chopped habanero, soy sauce, brown sugar, chopped garlic, nutmeg, allspice, fresh chopped ginger, pepper, and some pineapple rum with some water. (It called for either pineapple juice or water and I thought pineapple rum would be fun!)
We rubbed the chicken with some lemon juice, added some salt and pepper, and then poured the marinade into the bag with the chicken. We put it into the fridge to marinate over night. Recipe: Jamaican Jerk Chicken.
The jerk chicken recipe suggested sides of fried plantains and mayo-less slaw. Spoiler alert: we won’t be making fried plantains again but the slaw was really good. The plantains smelled kinda like bananas (I hadn’t had plantains before, so this was a new experience). Also, did you know bananas are actually berries? Also cucumbers and grapes. The more you know.
Rei prepped the plantains as we asked Alexa how bananas and plantains are different. While she didn’t answer the question, we did learn that bananas are part of the berry family. Mindblown. For fucks sake. For the record, I don’t read the entire post before I add my comments, so how was I supposed to know Mom was going to put that in too? Other fun fact that Mom definitely did not put in this post: barcode scanners scan the white spaces between the black lines and not the black lines themselves.
We had to choose between grilling the chicken or putting it into the oven. I decided to put it into the oven and then later asked Zeke to finish the pieces on the grill. The pieces looked anemic and needed some color and caramelization. I was not involved with this process; I was working on the slaw and then the plantains.
It was the right decision. This was the chicken after about 30 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees.
I poured the marinade from the bag into a pan to cook for about 10 minutes. I suppose this is to kill off the chicken crud that could make us really sick or worse, kill us. We didn’t die (speak for yourself). And it was spectacular with the chicken.
Rei and I split the effort on creating the slaw. I got the dressing going by putting the ingredients into a jar and asking Zeke to shake it for 2 minutes. I think he set a timer and stopped after exactly 2 minutes. Thar’s what I would have done.
The recipe is also from Immaculate Bites (Caribbean Cole Slaw) and includes: Dijon mustard, jalapeno pepper, honey, brown sugar, lemon juice, grated garlic, olive oil, and white pepper. (Now that I think about it, I think I used a jalapeno in the marinade recipe…hmmmm.)
Rei grated some carrots and chopped the green cabbage as I chopped some scallions and added to the bowl.
Rei then cut up some mango and added to the other goodies. I probably added about half of the mango I cut up; the rest never made it to the bowl.
I chopped some parsley and pulled the seeds and nuts out of the cabinet to assemble the salad when the plantains were done.
We don’t fry things often as we’ve mentioned before. Rei heated the oil, did a test, and then put in a batch to cook. We sprinkled the first batch with salt and the second two batches with cinnamon and sugar. The sweet option was the way to go! The salted ones were just not flavorful enough for us; we liked the flavor the cinnamon sugar added to the palate.
We had way too much slaw for just the three of us so I put a more manageable amount into a smaller bowl, added some dressing along with some pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, and some chopped parsley. It was bright and refreshing and the perfect accompaniment to the chicken. Can I go on the record and say that I absolutely adore slaw? It’s refreshing and light and tasty and —
You can see some rice peeking out from under the chicken. At some point while we were cooking, I thought we needed some rice. I made a small batch and put it on the platter, added some of the sauce, and then placed the chicken on top. The plantains went on either side. It was a rather small batch of rice — I think you should have made at least twice that much so we could have some for leftovers. (I agree. ~Terri)
This was a fun night of cooking with some delicious flavors. This could be a great midweek meal assuming that some of the prep is done the night before. The plantains are unnecessary; we recommend the rice instead. I may spice up the rice next time to compliment the flavors.
Rei? Would you agree? Chicken, rice, and slaw?
This reminds me…it’s lunchtime and I am hungry for some chicken and slaw!
Rei? Are you done communing with nature? Would you mind spicing up this post with your brilliant, witty, and charming comments? I have to go play tennis.
I wasn’t out communing with nature, I was at the park photosynthesizing. I literally sat on a sunny bench for about an hour and a half and read and listened to music. It was the best.
I also sowed some flower seeds in the yard today, so that’s going to be fun to monitor! I don’t expect seedlings to pop up for at least a few weeks, but they’re all my babies and I love them very much. (But did you see the daffodil in the front garden? It’s the first bulb of the season!~Terri)
Dinner last night was really good. The slaw had a bit of a kick to it, but I didn’t really mind it, so that was nice. The chicken was really moist and had a lot of flavor, and the rice was really nice with the sauce from the chicken. I don’t think the rice needs any flavors because we could just mix the sauce with it, and that was enough for me.
The plantains were a fun experiment, and I think I would want to try other produce in the future just because, but I don’t think I’m a fan of plantains in general. Not enough flavor and a kinda funky texture.
Mom and Dad are heading out to a crab feed thing tonight (I don’t know anything other than I get the house to myself tonight and I’m gonna throw a massive party and we’re going to do all the drugs and drink all the alcohols…)
Wait, Mom reads this after I write it. Shit, I’m busted.
Anyways, the party’s off tonight but I’m still going to be chilling and reading and drinking tea and all that jazz like the introvert I am.
Until next time, ciao, and have a plingtronful day!
Rei and Terri
