Jamaican Jerk Marinade

[DarthAvarous]

Beware! Beware you pony folk! These peppers of orange are not a joke! Depending on your tolerance level, Scotch bonnet peppers can be hot. This recipe should be okay for most people, as I usually triple the amount of peppers. If you can't find Scotch bonnet peppers, habaneros can work as a replacement, but they are even hotter so you wouldn't need as many. And make sure to wash your hooves after handling the peppers.

1 Bunch of scallions
5 Scotch Bonnet peppers, stems removed
1 T. Fresh thyme
20 Whole allspice (Or about 1 T. ground allspice)
3 T. Lawry's Reduced Sodium Seasoning Salt
½ C. Warm water

Use a mortar and pestle to grind the allspice into a powder. Add all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and process until slightly chunky. Toss the meat in the marinade and let refrigerate for at least 24 hours, or up to 1 week.

[rainpony]

Actually when it come to habañero (for scotch bonnet I don't know) it is even recommended to wear gloves ; if you don't have some, washing your hands only once might not be enough to rince it all away, so take care to avoid putting your fingers on sensitive areas such as eyes ^^

Just a question : what's the interest of reducing the sodium in salt ? Is it replaced by something else healthier ?
Anyway, sounds really nice :-)

[DarthAvarous]

The gloves are a good precaution if you are cutting them open and handling them. I just throw the peppers in the food processor after pulling the stem off. Scotch bonnets are in the same family as habaneros, but are generally rated lower on the Scoville scale (Measure of heat/spiciness). Also, don't stick you nose in the blender after mixing everything up unless you want to clear out your sinuses.

As far as the reduced sodium, it's just something I prefer. I think the dish is salty enough. The sodium chloride is replaced by potassium chloride (For those with a greater risk for high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease). They can only replace a little bit with potassium chloride because by itself it has a bitter taste. No crazy chemicals or anything.

And yes, it is very nice, one of my favorite recipes. All the recipes I posted today have one thing in common. 0 calories. Can't beat that.

[gymrat]

OHOHOHO, I have only had jerk chicken once, and I loved it! I need to start learning how to cook, so here is a good way to start.

Any advice for cooking? Do it slow or fast? How about making the jerk sauce for serving? Thanks for this.

[skwiziks]

Hooray! Thank you for this. I will have to try it.

[DarthAvarous]

Dec 8, 2012 23:51:51 GMT -5 gymrat said:

OHOHOHO, I have only had jerk chicken once, and I loved it! I need to start learning how to cook, so here is a good way to start.

Any advice for cooking? Do it slow or fast? How about making the jerk sauce for serving? Thanks for this.

I like to marinate the chicken for at least 3 days. Then simply cook it like you would a normal piece of chicken. I usually serve it with a homemade goat cheese dip rather than a jerk sauce. The goat cheese is a nice cooling counterpoint to the spiciness of the chicken (Especially when you do this with chicken wings). The marinade wouldn't work for a jerk sauce IMO. It's too runny and salty. I'll think about how I would make a jerk sauce. I have a promising lead already. Once I try it out, I'll let everyone know.

[DarthAvarous]

Here is a link to a sauce I tried.

caribbeanpot.com/a-classic-jamaican-jerk-marinade/

I made the sauce and reduced it down to thicken it up. It had a decent heat level, but I didn't like the orange or soy sauce notes it brought. I may try this again, but leave out (Or maybe reduce) the soy and orange. I'll add more liquid, salt, and sugar to compensate. I may try using mango juice in place of orange, as that is endemic to Jamaica.