The Kitchen Bachelor

Eh Mon! Pass the Jerk Chicken!

For those of you who have been to the Reef on Commercial Drive, or the Caribbean festival at Lonsdale Quay, you know how good Jerk Chicken is!  So to satisfy my craving this week for something island-spicy, I managed to find some jerk seasoning at Market Meats – my favorite butcher shop on 4th avenue.

Jerk seasoning usually includes ingredients like allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, and garlic.  You could make it yourself or buy something off the shelf like one I found called “Walkerswood”.

Usually I would marinade something like this overnight, but due to some bad prep on my part, I only had 2 hours to slap on the amazing rub on some free-range chicken thighs (score the chicken with a knife) that I purchased.  In the fridge for 2 hours, onto a baking pan covered with foil, and then into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.  Turn the oven over to broil on high for the final 15 minutes of baking to get a nice browning of chicken skin.

As for side dishes, I had boiled some beats (45 minutes in boiling water) and chopped up some yams (seasoned and in the oven at the same time as the chicken).

Heat tip: If you have a lower tolerance for spice, turn down the heat of the jerk spice by mixing with some brown sugar or honey.

Difficulty Rating: 2 out of 5

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