Come Sail Away to the Islands! Double Jerk Chicken!!

Today I am making a double jerk chicken.  This chicken is called double jerk because we are marinated the chicken in a wet jerk marinade and then grilling it over an open flame and then dousing it with a delicious, sweet and spicy Caribbean style BBQ sauce.  This chicken is THE BOMB!  Seriously!  The combination of the spicy marinated chicken and the sweet and spicy sauce is to die for!

I have used chicken thighs, which is kind of a departure for me.  I don't often use them and certainly don't use them bone in and skin on, but in this instance because they are going to be cooked over a very hot, open charcoal flame, I went this route.  This will help the chicken to stay moist and tender and retain it's juiciness.  In the end, this grilled double jerk chicken was so delicious, I may be a convert to chicken thighs!

The marinade for this is full of the flavors of the Caribbean!  Doing a bit of research, using what I already know about jerk marinade and consulting my friend Liza, I have put together, what I think is a super easy, user friendly marinade that anyone can make, no matter where they live!  

Traditionally, Jerk is heavy on the heat that comes from Scotch Bonnet peppers.  I have a hard time finding those locally and do not have them growing in my garden, but will be on the lookout for some seeds for future planting!  Then we built the marinade with a citrus base.  Orange, pineapple and lime juices were added along with green onion, sweet onion, fresh grated ginger, Habanero pepper, olive oil and all the spices that you know should go in a good jerk.  Allspice, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and of course onion powder, garlic powder salt and pepper as well as fresh thyme.  You can use dry thyme, but the fresh thyme really gives the jerk something special you don't get from the dried version.

I wazzed this all up in my drink blender and poured it into a zip top bag with the chicken thighs.  We allowed this to marinate for about an hour and a half before placing on the very hot grill for five minutes per side.    When the chicken was cooked through, it may have looked burned, but that is beautiful and flavorful char that is sought after in a good jerk chicken!  We slathered on some of my homemade sweet and spicy Caribbean style BBQ sauce and let it set to a nice shellac.  Then we removed it from the grill and allowed it to rest for about five minutes before serving.

This chicken was tender and juicy with over the top flavor.  Trust me, you won't be disappointed with this meal! 

I hope you give this double jerk chicken a try and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

You can see how I made this double jerk chicken in my YouTube video here:

Noreen's Kitchen

 Jamaican Style Marinade

Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon  salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper 6 green onions, chopped 1 medium sweet onion, chopped 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1-2  habanero peppers 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup pineapple juice 6-8 sprigs fresh thyme

Step by Step Instructions

Place all ingredients into the vessel of a food processor or high speed blender.

Mix well to liquefy.

Pour marinade over chicken pieces and allow to marinate for at least one hour before grilling, baking or broiling.

Discard any unused marinade to avoid cross contamination.

Enjoy!

You can get a printable copy of this recipe by clicking here: http://bit.ly/29WC6Ex