Caribbean Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas

As my elder sister is sunning herself cruising in the Caribbean I thought I'd warm up our frosty sunny weather with some jerk chicken.  Fresh and zingy with lime and makes a refreshing change from all our traditional Christmas food.  Definitely not cooking it on the BBQ though! 

Ingredients

12 chicken thighs, bone in or 1 whole chicken, spatchcocked, about 1.5kg

1 lime, halved

For the jerk marinade

1 big bunch spring onions, roughly chopped

thumb-sized piece ginger, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves

½ a small onion

2 scotch bonnet chillies, deseeded if you want less heat

½ tsp dried thyme

Juice 1 lime

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp ground allspice

1 teasp salt.

For the rice & peas

200g basmati rice

400g can coconut milk

1 bunch spring onions, sliced

2 large thyme sprigs

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teasp ground allspice

2 x 410g cans kidney beans, drained.

Method

To make the jerk marinade, combine all the ingredients in a food processor along with 1 teasp salt, and blend to a purée. Eventually it will start to blend up – don’t be tempted to add water, as you want a thick paste. Taste the jerk mixture for seasoning – it should taste pretty salty, but not unpleasantly, salty. If it tastes too salty and sour, try adding in a bit more brown sugar until the mixture tastes well balanced.

Make a few slashes in the chicken and pour the marinade over the meat, rubbing it into all the crevices. Cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.  It’s great cooked on the BBQ but as it’s freezing outside at the moment this will go in the house oven.

To cook in the oven, heat to 180C. Put the chicken pieces in a roasting tin with the lime halves and cook for 45 minutes until tender and cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rice & peas. Rinse the rice in plenty of cold water, then tip it into a large saucepan with all the remaining ingredients except the kidney beans. Season with salt, add 300ml cold water and set over a high heat. Once the rice begins to boil, turn it down to a medium heat, cover and cook for 10 mins.

Add the beans to the rice, then cover with a lid. Leave off the heat for 5 mins until all the liquid is absorbed. Squeeze the roasted lime over the chicken and serve with the rice & peas, and some hot sauce if you like it really spicy.

Adapted from a John Torode recipe.