Keyword chicken, jamaican jerk chicken, rice and peas, jerk chicken
Prep Time 25 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour5 minutesminutes
Servings 6people
Cost £
Ingredients
6free-range chicken breasts
Jerk marinade (you can cheat & buy jerk marinade but buy a good brand)
1big bunch of spring onions, chopped roughly
1thumb-sized piece of ginger, roughly chopped
3garlic cloves
1/2small onion
3scotch bonnet chillies
1/2tspdried thyme (or 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves)
1lime juice
2tbspsoy sauce
2tbspvegetable oil
3tbspbrown sugar
1tbspground allspice
For the rice and peas
200glong rice (or basmati) - rinse the starch off under cold water
400gcoconut milk
1bunch of spring onions, sliced
2thyme sprigs
3garlic cloves, finely chopped
1tspground allspice
2 x 400gtinned cans red kidney beans, drained
Instructions
For the marinade (do the night before if possible)
Combine the spring onions, ginger, garlic, onion, scotch bonnet chillies, dried thyme, lime juice, soy sauce, vegetable oil, brown sugar and ground allspice in a food processor along with 1 tsp salt, and blend to a purée. – 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 salty. Add 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 light cuts in the chicken breasts and pour the marinade over the meat, rubbing it into all the crevices. Cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.
Pre-heat the oven to 180/200C.In a large frying pan, add a little oil and place the marinated chicken skin down. Fry until starting to crisp. Flip to seal the other side.Now, place into the oven (skin side up) either in the ovenproof pan or use another tray. Cook for approx. 15 mins or until the chicken has an internal temp. of 74C.
Cook the rice and peas
While the chicken is cooking, make the rice and peas.Tip the rinsed rice into a large saucepan. Add the coconut milk, spring onions, thyme, garlic and allspice. Season with salt and pepper and add 300 ml water. Bring to a boil, add the beans, then turn off the heat and cover the pan and let steam for approx. 15 mins until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.
Serve on a large platter with the rice and peas first and slices of chicken over top.