Jerk Chicken

For dinner tonight, I decided to make Jerk Chicken from a recipe in September 2011 Glamour.

The recipe is part of a feature from the girls at gastronomista.com, about how to "Be a Hostess in a Hurry." 

To make it simple for us all, they even have the recipe up on their website, here. You can see how to make the entire spread, and there is even a cute menu they made up.

I was super excited to make this chicken, because even though it sounds delicious, the ingredients I needed from the store cost around $5!  I had to pick up five limes (3 for $1), a bunch of green onions ($.69), a small yellow onion ($.80), and two habenero peppers ($.30).  I also bought a big thing of yogurt (about $3) and skewers.

To make the marinade, you toss almost all of the ingredients into a blender and blend.  The marinade is composed of:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lime juice (I prefer fresh and used five limes before I gave up juicing. I had almost a 1/2 cup)

2 Tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)

1/2 onion, finely chopped (I bought a small onion so I wouldn't have leftovers and used the whole thing)

8 green onions, finely chopped (I used one bunch = 6)

8 garlic cloves, peeled (aka four teaspoons minced garlic)

1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger (I get the stuff in a jar, already minced/mushed)

2 tsp brown sugar (I omitted this)

2 tsp fresh or dried thyme [I used dried]

2 tsp allspice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1-2 habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers (to taste) seeded and finely chopped



All you have to do is place this in the blender.  I used my Magic Bullet (the pitcher shaped one) and was amazed how easily it all blended up.  Normally things take a bit of coaxing, but something about this mixture was very blendable.

*I don't like things very spicy (but am trying to be more adventurous) so I only used one habanero pepper.  After everything was mixed, the marinade tasted really spicy and I was glad I only used one.  However, after the chicken was cooked, most of the spice was gone.  I would recommend using both peppers and if you like things REALLY spicy, save some to put over the top when it is done cooking.

After that, all you need to do is defrost some chicken and cut it into "two inch" pieces.  Basically whatever you consider bite size.  Toss these into a big zip loc back, and pour in your marinade (I only used half and am saving half for some other use...) I also used chicken tenderloins instead of chicken breasts.  The tenderloins are much smaller and I used eleven, which made six skewers.  The recipe calls for eight chicken breasts, so choose your meat accordingly.

I let my chicken soak for exactly one hour because I couldn't wait any longer and was starving.  This is a great marinade because the flavor actually stays on the chicken (I have made some marinades that are quite some work and barely do anything to the flavor of the meat).

From there, simply take out the chicken and put it on the skewers.  I preheated the oven and it was ready by the time the skewers were assembled. The recipe says you can either grill for 20 minutes, or bake for 13-18 minutes at 350 degrees.  I don't have a grill, so I baked.  Also, make sure you oil the baking sheet prior to putting the chicken on.  After I had them all in place, I dumped the rest of the marinade over the chicken. I also flipped them over about half way through.  I cooked them for the whole 18 minutes and the chicken was so tender and delicious.

The recipe calls for serving this with Tzatziki sauce, which I struggled finding at the grocery store (does anyone know what aisle it is in???).  I know Tzatziki isn't that hard to make at home, but I didn't go to the effort of making it.  Instead, I ate my chicken with nonfat plain yogurt and it was great. If you want to make Tzatziki instead, allrecipes.come says you simply blend all the following ingredients in a blender (and ideally refrigerate at least one hour):

Tzatziki sauce

2 (8 ounce) containers plain yogurtGo make this chicken! It was one of the cheapest, easiest, and most delicious things I have ever had the pleasure of making.

2 cucumbers - peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
3 cloves garlic, peeled


 

 
Also, in other news, check out this massive bruise I got on my leg!
 

It hurts barely at all, so it is really pure show.  It actually happened a week ago, while we were cleaning out my college-house and where my brother move in.  My Dad and I had JUST moved a bed frame into the garage and had it resting against an arm chair.  I went to walk back up the stairs and bumped into it, causing it to trample the back of my legs :) I think the big circular part ust be from the knob of the frame, and the line going down is from one of the poles. 

Consider that my favor to you -- if my recipe made you too hungry, now that can ruin your appetite and give you a bit for your chicken to marinate and your appetite to return.