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

Meatless Never Tasted So good! Vegetable Stacks ~ Vegetarian Sheet Pan Dinner!!

Here is a great dinner option for meatless Monday or any day!  Vegetable stacks, vegetarian sheet pan dinner is easy to make and nobody in your family is going to miss the meat!  We really enjoyed this meal and served along with some ancient grains blend that I cooked up in the pressure cooker, this meal was simply delicious!  

We have been wanting to share this for a while and we have had it a couple of times so far this summer and we all really enjoy the simplicity of this meal.  Super simple to make and even the leftovers can be folded into leftover rice, quinoa or couscous for an awesome riff on a tabbouleh salad the next day!

I used some giant portobello mushroom caps from the warehouse store and some thick sliced eggplant, yellow and zuccini squash along with some thick sliced Vidalia onions.  I marinated each veggie in a zip top bag with some of our favorite zesty Italian dressing for 15 to 20 minutes then laid them on a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat.  

We baked off the veggies for 20 to 25 minutes until they reached our desired doneness and then created our vegetable stacks on top of the prepared quinoa blend that had been prepared pilaf style.

You can always change up the dressing/marinade and make this with a delicious teriyaki or Asian sesame dressing, or Greek, French or even just some oil and balsamic vinegar would be great!  You decide which direction to take.  No matter what you choose I know it will be delicious!

I hope you give this vegetarian sheet pan dinner a try and I hope you love these vegetable stacks!

Happy Eating!

You can get a printable version of the recipe here:  http://bit.ly/1UwjWb2



You can see how I did this in my YouTube video:

Noreen's Kitchen

Vegetable Stacks

Vegetarian Sheet Pan Dinner

Ingredients

4 portobello mushroom caps 2 medium sized eggplant 2 large sweet onions 2 zucchini

2 yellow squash 2 cups marinade or dressing of choice salt and pepper to taste

Step by Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Clean the gills from the portobello mushrooms and set aside.

Slice eggplant, and squash into 1/2 inch slices.

Slice onion in 1/2 thick slices and place on skewers to make turning easier.  I put two slices per skewer.

Place 1/2 cup of dressing or marinade into a zip top bag and add the mushroom caps.  Seal the bag and distribute the dressing to coat the mushrooms.  Set aside for 15 t0 20 minutes.

Do the same with the rest of the vegetables and allow them to marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Lay the vegetables in a single layer on two sheet pans that you have lined with either foil or silicone mats.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the vegetables reach your preferred doneness. 

Remove from oven and allow to sit for five minutes before preparing the stacks.

Build stacks by arranging a bed of quinoa, rice or couscous on the bottom of the plate and stacking a mushroom cap on the bottom then squash, onion and topping of with a slice of eggplant.

You can sprinkle with parsley or drizzle with more dressing or marinade if desired before serving.

This is a dish best eaten fresh, however leftover roasted vegetable can be chopped and mixed with any of your leftover rice, quinoa or couscous to make a version of tabbouleh salad that you can eat as a lunch the next day.