…and the oil.
Place the chicken in a resealable bag. Ewww that bone looks kind of disgusting – sorry. I always use bone in chicken with the skin for this recipe. I like the flavor and moisture. I’m sure you could use boneless skinless. I have never tried it, just don’t over cook or your will have extremely spicey dried out breasts!
3 fresh habanero chiles, discard stems and coarsely chop
6 green onions, coarsely chopped
3 shallots, quartered
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoons ground cloves
¼ cup oil
1 whole chicken, cut up
Cut and wash chicken or just buy one pre-cut. Cut several 1-inch long slits in each piece of chicken. Set aside. Combine all other ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until a paste forms. Place the chicken in a re-sealable bag or deep dish. Pour Jerk paste over chicken. Reseal bag. Move the chicken pieces around to make sure that the paste covers the entire piece. Place on a baking sheet or plate skin side down and refrigerate overnight. Makes 8 servings.
Try to marinate chicken at least 8 hours. I have marinated for as long as 48 hours. Wow was the flavor INTENSE!
As you bite into this grilled chicken, your mouth will explode as the different flavors come through. If you were tough enough to use all three habanero chiles, you will start to feel the heat build up in your mouth then it will linger in your throat. It’s a Jamaican party in your mouth, man.
Way excited for this one–making it later this week. I have been unhappy with all the jerk recipes I've tried the last few years and this one looks great. I'll be adding a splash of rum to the marinade–it's the only thing we liked about the last jerk recipe we tried, from my culinary textbook. No, we haven't become lushes… just use it for cooking.
It's funny, we keep habaneros on hand. We use them probably twice a week (don't ask our guts how they like it, they'll let you know). Got ten habanero plants going in my windowsill to plant in a couple weeks… YUM.
I'm so proud of you and your husband. Way to take the heat. I really want to plant some habanero's myself. I had one plant one year and had enough to last me the summer. So awesome.
jerk chicken recipe spice is mostly a mixture of Jamaican pimento and Scotch bonnet peppers, but small amounts of other spices are added to the mixture as well, and these normally include cinnamon, cloves, garlic, nutmeg, scallions, and thyme.