Jamaican Jerk Chicken

J found this 52 week cooking challenge where every week they give you a theme that you are supposed to cook one dish by. We initially were excited about it and were going to do it but I got side tracked pretty quickly and gave it up.  This week I was struggling to come up with my menu so we went back to that list to see what their suggestion was for this week and it was Jamaican.  We are both big fans of jerk chicken but for some reason never make it, so we thought we’d try it.  I have a Jamaican friend whose jerk chicken is just awesome and she would probably cringe at our results but as white people that do not eat a whole lot of Jamaican food we were both pretty pleased and will most likely make this again.

1 cinnamon stick

1 tbs coriander seeds

1 tsp whole cloves

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ground allspice

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1 large onion, rough chopped

2-3 Scotch Bonnet peppers

1 tsp thyme

5 cloves garlic

½ cup white vinegar

1 cup soy sauce

½ cup sugar

10-12 boneless skinless chicken thighs

In a dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast the first 4 ingredients until aromatic.  Grind the spices then add the spices and the next 6 ingredients to a food processor and puree.  Combine the puree and the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a large bowl.   Add the chicken to the bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight. 

Heat a large skillet to high heat and sear both sides of all of the chicken thighs.  Once seared add all of the chicken and the marinade to the skillet and cook on medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.  Once the chicken is cooked remove it from the skillet and allow the marinade to cook down, about 10 minutes, so that it can be served atop the chicken.

This could not have been easier to make.  I had J make the marinade one night while I was cooking dinner for that night and we just put the chicken in the marinade in the fridge overnight and the next night when I was ready to cook it I just threw the chicken in the skillet and made my sides.  I made Island Rice and black beans to go with this and could not have been more pleased with my dinner.