Jerk Chicken

I consulted Levi Roots for some direction on this one…he is an authority on making Jamaican cooking accessible. If you can’t find scotch bonnets substitute Thai chilies. I recommend marinating over night for the best flavour. And a word of caution with those scotch bonnets – they are very hot!!!

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Ingredients:

1 whole organic chicken, cut into 8 pieces or 8 chicken thighs

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 tbsp dried oregano

2 1/2 tbsp ground allspice

3 1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning

1 tbsp paprika

4 Scotch bonnet chilies, deseeded and chopped

5 shallots, roughly chopped

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, smashed

3 tbsp mixed dried herbs

1 tbsp dried basil

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups tomato sauce

Preparation:

1. Place the chicken in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine the lemon juice with 1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning, 1/2 tbsp all spice, 1/2 tbsp oregano and the paprika. Massage into the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a resealable plastic bag.

2. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the remaining ingredients to a paste. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the tomato sauce then pour over the chicken. Close the bag and distribute sauce coating the chicken. Place the chicken into the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours but preferably over night.

3. Cook the chicken on a preheated barbecue just until it begins to colour (char) then transfer to a hot oven to finish cooking.

Servings:

4 to 6

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Andrea Stewart
It’s not surprising that three of Andrea Stewart’s favourite foods are bread, butter and champagne, since her approach to all things culinary has always been pure and simple. This experienced, creative and enterprising chef and editor approaches cooking and eating with a solid appreciation for fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Andrea’s journey with food began while living in France, working as an au pair for Grace Jones. While feeding the young offspring of the famous singer, she was tempted on a daily basis by the busy, colourful French food markets. Later on, she spent a summer at Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier and fell in love all over again with everything France had to offer. Upon returning to Canada, she was accepted at the acclaimed Stratford Chefs School and after completing her first year she headed to New York to further sharpen her skills, working alongside some of the finest (including Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto) and catering Martha Stewart’s executive meetings. Andrea returned to Toronto in 1996, and further immersed herself in her career, working at some of the city’s top food fixtures, including Mildred Pierce and Ace Bakery. She eventually took a side-step out of the kitchen and into the halls of magazine publishing, landing a position as Food Editor of Wish Magazine in 2004. While inspiring busy Canadian wonder-women to cook from scratch, she published her first cookbook, Wish, Market to Table. From street food to fine dining to unfamiliar grocery stores, food still motivates Andrea at every turn. She recently sold everything but a prized collection of cookbooks and moved to the U.K., where her culinary library spans the two floors of her London flat. She won’t rest until she has cooked from every one of them!

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Jerk Chicken