Jerk Chicken

This is the same recipe that I used for the Shea Center parties but in a main course size. I love the flavor of this marinade! I want to try it on fish or beef to see if it's just as good.



When we serve it at parties we do a mango salsa but I personally am not a big fan of fruit flavors so I just served the jerk chicken with rice and a little of the jerk marinade which I reserved before adding to the raw chicken. I then added this marinade to mexican crema but you could use sour cream or yogurt. I liked adding a little fresh herbage to the Jerk Cream sauce for a little freshness for the dish.

I wasn't completely happy with my first version of this so I made some mashed potatoes and served the chicken with the raw marinade that I had reserved. I liked this better because it was spicier but I'm still not 100% satisfied. I think I'll cook the marinade a little so the sauce doesn't have such a raw and bold taste.

Marinade:
4 whole green onions, ends trimmed
2 tbs fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
3 serrano chiles, minced (include seeds for extra spice)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs cider vinegar
Chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite size pieces

Directions:

Char green onions on the grill or stove burner. Chop when cool enough to handle. In a food processor combine all the ingredients for the jerk marinade. Add chicken and marinade over night.

On the day of the party, remove chicken from marinade and thread onto metal skewers. Grill for a few minutes until chicken is cooked through and has nice grill marks. Rest chicken on the metal skewers and when cool enough to handle place on small wooden toothpicks or skewers.

At the party we served the chicken with a pineapple salsa but you could also serve it with some marinade that you reserved originally. (don't use marinade that had raw chicken in it over night). This is better if its served warm but still tastes really good when its at room temp.