Island time with Jamaican Jerk Chicken

This past Wednesday brought us an unseasonably warm and sunny day and along with it a chance to break away from our winter doldrums.  Sadly the freakish 80 degree weather has not been sustained so this Sunday we are carrying on as though we are in the tropics with a Jamaican Jerk chicken dish.

Traditionally prepared Jerk chicken involves lots of marinating followed by grilling.  Using a slow-cooker is a short-cut to marinating and cooking the meat in one easy step.

Traditional Jerk seasoning relies principally upon 2 components: allspice, a quintessential caribbean spice, and Scotch bonnet peppers which are among the hottest of hot peppers.  I substituted habañero peppers due to lack of available Scotch bonnets.  I highly recommend that you slowly adjust the amount of habañero pepper based upon your tolerance for heat.  The minute amount that I added shown in the photo below was enough to give it a slight bite, but was not too hot for my 9 year old daughter's sensitive palate.

The allspice component provides the characteristic caribbean flavor which is further enhanced through use of aromatics such as ginger, garlic and onion, herbal thyme, and citrus.  Allspice, primarily grown in Jamaica, is a pea-sized berry from the evergreen pimiento tree.  It is said that Columbus happened upon allspice while traversing the Caribbean in search of pepper.  Thinking that he had found pepper he falsely named the allspice berry and the tree from which it is grown the Spanish word for pepper, "pimiento." To this day Jamaicans still refer to it as pimiento.  The English renamed it allspice in the 15th century because of its similarity to a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.

Regardless of how you choose to name your spices, this recipe is packed with Caribbean flavor which will have you thinking that you are on island time in no time.  

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken breast & 4 skinless chicken thighs
1 onion, halved & sliced
Finely diced habañero pepper, seeds & ribs removed; adjust amount carefully!
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground allspice
8 cloves garlic, minced
2  tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
Juice of one lime
1 cup orange juice (I used the juice from 4 fresh oranges)
2 tablespoons white vinegar

Serve with rice and beans


Directions



Layer the onion slices at the bottom of the slow cooker.  Pat dry the chicken pieces and place in a single layer on top of the onions.


Prepare the marinade by combining the remaining ingredients in a bowl and whisking until the sugar dissolves.

Adding a tinsy amount of habañero

Pour marinade over the chicken.  Cover the slow-cooker and cook on medium for 4 hours.  Check after 2 hours turning chicken pieces in the sauce.  After 4 hours or so remove meat from the bones and shred the chicken.

Serve with rice and beans.  And possibly even a Red Stripe beer and Reggae...

Chicken with marinade ready in the slow-cooker