Girls Weekend Spiced Rum Jerk Chicken Recipes

SPICY RUM CHICKEN WINGS

Steps:

• Make the marinade: Combine the rum, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, scallions, habaneros, ginger, allspice, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.
• Place the wings in a resealable plastic bag and add the marinade. Press the air out of the bag and seal tightly, then turn the bag over to completely coat the wings. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, turning the bag once or twice.
• Drain the wings, reserving the marinade. Bring the marinade to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced by about half, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare a charcoal grill by placing coals on half of the grill. Light the charcoal and wait for the embers to become white. (Add your favorite wood or wood chips at this point.) Replace the grate and put the wings on the cooler side of the grill.
• Cover with the lid and cook until the juices run clear, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Remove the wings from the grill and toss with the reduced marinade. Place the wings on the grill over direct heat and cook, turning frequently, until the sauce has caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes. Top with chopped scallions and serve with lime wedges.

HOMESTYLE JERK CHICKEN

Steps:

• I should start this by saying my home version of Jerk Chicken is different from the street-food, hot and crisp, that I've eaten in Jamaica straight out of what looks like a metal barrel on its side. Well, it would be different, wouldn't it? It's not that I haven't tried to replicate the recipe, using whole quarters of chicken, with the bone still in and the skin still on, but it hasn't felt right. A domestic oven just doesn't get hot enough, and so although the spiced chili crust gets gratifyingly crisp, the skin doesn't - it can't - and flabby skin is just not to be countenanced. Thus, although the vinegary, limey, rum and spiced marinade makes the meat lusciously tender, you have to jettison its outer casing entirely. This seems too much of a waste to me.
• Now, you will rarely find me suggesting breast meat, let alone a breast fillet, so you have to believe me when I say that the heat of the marinade, and the meat's edible carapace work best when offset against the meltingly tender white meat within. And, in turn, I must say that I have never managed to make, or find, white meat that turns out so luscious and succulent. It's a miracle all round. I'm stunned, but grateful. I have nothing to add, save the suggestion that you could consider working the same magic with some lean pork tenderloin as well.
• Don't cook this, though, unless you like it hot. And I mean hot. There's no point choosing to cook this and then trying to find a way to tame it, say by taking out the seeds from the chili (though you could if you must). Besides, although it packs a major punch, the sweet, creamy, coconutty rice that just must be served with it, offers the perfect counterbalancing salve.
• Slash the chicken breasts, 3 slashes a breast, each cut about 3/4-inch deep on the diagonal. Put in a rectangular dish, slashed-side down. Put all the other ingredients in the processor and blitz to a dark, earthy paste and pour and spread over the chicken pieces and leave to marinate out of the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours or in the refrigerator, (covered), overnight.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Double-line a shallow roasting pan with aluminium foil. Tip into it the chicken with its marinade, slashed side up and roast for 30 minutes.
• Take the pan out of the oven, just to pour off excess watery juices. Use a pastry brush and spoon to place any paste back on the chicken and cook for a further 30 minutes, by which time the chicken will be cooked through and tender with a thick fiery crust. You could get started on the Rice and Peas once the chicken's back in the oven for its final stint.
• For serving: Pile up each dinner plate with coconutty rice and sit a piece of hot-crusted chicken proudly on top.
• Make Ahead Note: Jerk paste can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to non-metallic bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface. Cover bowl tightly with second layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate. The chicken can be marinated up to 24 hours in advance. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.
• Freeze Note: The chicken in its marinade can be frozen, in a resealable bag, for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator - put the bag in a bowl to catch any leaks.
• Making leftovers right: Should you have leftovers - and don't count on it if you're 6 round the table - refrigerate as soon as cooled and within 1 to 2 days you can simply snip some chicken into the rice and reheat until piping hot. However, I love this in a new form: a thick, coconutty soup punctured by fiery bursts of tender meat. Add some coconut milk and chicken broth to the leftover rice, along with some freshly grated gingerroot and a spritz of lime juice, and heat up, adding the chicken, cut into small strips or small chunks, once it starts bubbling. When the meat's piping hot, season to taste then pour your soup into a bowl (or bowls) and scatter with freshly chopped cilantro and slurp gratefully.
• Drain and rinse the gungo peas, and heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan that has a lid. Fry the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring every now and again, letting it soften and brown a little. Then add the chopped chile and garlic, and give everything a good stir around. Now stir in the rice, making sure it is all slicked with oil, then pour in the coconut milk and chicken or vegetable broth and stir in the drained gungo peas. Bring to a bubble, clamp on the lid, and turn down the heat to very low and let it cook gently for 15 minutes.
• Check the rice is cooked through and the liquid is all absorbed - give the rice another 5 minutes if it needs it. Sprinkle with the freshly chopped thyme and season with salt if desired, forking it through.

JERK CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Combine the allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, onion, scallions, chile, rum, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Process until the mixture forms a thick salsa-like mixture.
• Rub the mixture on each chicken breast and place the chicken in a zipper-lock plastic bag. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• Spray the rack of a roasting pan with non-stick spray and place in the pan.
• Arrange the chicken on the rack, and bake for 12 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook another 15 minutes until cooked through. Serve warm.

RUM CHICKEN MARINADE

Steps:

• Whisk lime juice, dark rum, olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, and hot sauce together in a bowl.

JAMAICAN JERK CHICKEN AND SEASONING

Steps:

• Combine all but chicken, lime juice and oil in mixing bowl and whisk to mix well.
• Whisk together lime juice and olive oil.
• Rub chicken well with lime/oil mix. Do not marinate.
• Coat chicken with dry seasoning/spice mixture. The idea here is to get as much as possible to stick to the chicken. We store our seasoning in a leftover spice container with large sprinkle holes and use that to season. This is not a rub, so it should not be applied in rub fashion.
• Refrigerate 1-3 hours, then remove from refrigerator and allow to come to near room temperature.
• Prepare grill for direct/indirect grilling.
• Grill chicken over hot direct fire. Don't worry about the black, it's supposed to be there. In fact, 30-40% of the skin should end up black, but it will not be bitter.
• Once seared, remove to the indirect heat area of the grill and cook to 165* internal temperature.
• One quick dance across the direct heat before serving will help crisp it a bit.
• Serve with plenty of napkins.

MISS OLLIE'S JERK CHICKEN

Steps:

• Blend chives, chiles, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, rum, salt, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves in a blender until smooth. Place chicken in a large bowl and pour jerk marinade over. Turn thighs and drumsticks several times to coat. Cover and chill, turning chicken pieces once, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Remove chicken from marinade, wiping off any excess, and let come to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Discard marinade.
• Prepare grill for 2-zone heat (for a charcoal grill, bank two-thirds of coals on one half of grill and scatter remaining coals over other side; for a gas grill, set one burner to high heat and the remaining burners to medium-low heat). Lightly brush grate with oil. Arrange chicken drumsticks and thighs, skin side down, on grate over hottest part of grill and grill, turning halfway through, until lightly charred, 5-10 minutes. Move chicken to cooler part of grill and continue to grill, turning several times, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, 20-25 minutes longer.
• Transfer chicken to a platter and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

GRILLED JERK CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine salt, garlic powder, sugar, allspice, thyme, cayenne, black pepper, sage, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a large bowl. While beating with a wire whisk, slowly add vinegar, orange juice, soy sauce, olive oil, and lime juice. Add onion, green onions, and chile pepper and mix well. Add chicken breasts, cover, and marinate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate. Remove the chicken from the marinade; reserve.
• Cook chicken on the preheated grill, basting with the reserved marinade frequently, until no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, 6 to 8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chicken. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

JAMAICAN RUM CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in small bowl. Place chicken in food storage bag. Pour marinade over chicken. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight, turning bag once or twice.
• Spray grill with cooking spray. Grill chicken until no longer pink.