Awesome Jerk Chicken
August 31, 2008

Today was a damned nice day of shopping and was concluded with the fantastic company of Becky and Tom. During my shopping spree, I had purchased a cast iron skillet and was just itching to try it out. What better way than by making a recipe that calls for some superb crusty browning followed by om nom'ie baking? So, for our guests I made delicious jerk chicken and stuffed peppers. The stuffed pepper recipe will come later, I swear.

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Chicken, cut into appropriate pieces
• Allspice
• Garlic
• 1/2 a white onion
• ~1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• ~1/2 cup White Sugar
• ~1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
• ~1/2 tsp Salt
• ~1/2 tsp Pepper
• ~1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 2 Red Chili Peppers
• Lemon Juice

The Method - Prep

Jerk Chicken is basically like a Jamaican barbecue. You're making a dry rub that will permeate the chicken and give it a fantastic and deep flavor all through the meat. Mix up your rub by combining your dry ingredients (Allspace, cinnamon, sugars, salt, pepper and paprika). In a big bowl, start mixing your chicken with the dry ingredients rubbing and pushing and making sure its well coated. If it doesn't look totally coated, make up some more of your jerk seasoning and get back to work!

Once your chicken's all set in its dry rub, dice up your onion and mince very finally about 1/2 bulb of garlic. Put 1/2 your onion (that's half a white onion) and garlic on in with the chicken and give it a nice tossing with your hands.

With that, you're going to mix in the red chili peppers. Cut them in half lengthwise, then run your knife along the inside to remove the seeds. Dice 'em up and throw 'em on in with your chicken.

Get a couple squirts of lemon juice (lime would be more appropriate, but I forgot to get it from the store) and then another good tossing.

Let the chicken sit for *at least* a half hour before going to town.

The Method - Cooking

Here's where my sweet new cast iron skillet came in handy. You could, of course use a frying pan - but I don't think it has quite the searing capabilities to get the job done. Kick your stove on medium-high and get some olive oil in there while you're waiting for it to heat up. Don't, don't, don't put your chicken in until the pan is totally heated and hot hot hot. If you put your chicken in, and it doesn't sizzle, take it out immediately and wait.

Once your pan is totally hot, get as many pieces of the chicken in there as you can in a single layer. Don't touch or move them once they're in the pan, as you're trying to develop a nice crusty layer of almost caramelized delicious. Moving them around prevents this from developing, and defeats the purpose of searing them before baking. You'll also probably need to do these in batches, don't be afraid of that.

After about 2 or 3 minutes on each side, your pieces should have a fantastic looking crunchy coating on them that almost looks burnt. This will give a great crunch and bring out the jerk flavor even better. Stick the pieces on a cookie sheet after they're done.

Once you've got all your chicken pieces seared, its time to move on to baking. Stick 'em in a 350F oven for about twenty to thirty minutes flipping 'em about halfway through. They'll be nice and crispy looking when done, and the internal temp on the meat should register around 165F.

Of course, you could just grill the darned things too

Om. Nom.

This turned out to be some great chicken that was perfect for a quick get together with friends. I would have liked to serve it alongside a nice yogurt+cucumber sauce, but alas I forgot about that. Better luck for me next time, eh?