jerk Archives | Page 2 of 2 | CaribbeanPot.com

With the busy lifestyle we tend to live and the fact that more and more students are now reaching out for recipes, I figured I’d share this sort of hack or cheat’s way of doing amazing jerk chicken in the oven. Yes, traditionalists will say that you need, smoke, fire and the goodness from pimento wood to really make it “jerk” but when you don’t have access to such, you improvise. In under 1 hr I’ll have you eating the most juicy, flavorful and tender oven jerk chicken you’ve ever had. No Lie! Even your Jamaican friends will be asking you for the recipe when you serve this up at that dinner party you’ve been meaning to have.

You’ll Need…

1 1/2 cups jerk marinade (your fav store bought)
1 cup orange juice
3 scallions
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 medium onions

4 lbs chicken

IMPORTANT! If you’re doing this jerk chicken according to a gluten free diet, do pay attention to the store-bought jerk marinade as it may contain soy sauce and other ingredients which may not fit with your gluten free dietary needs. There are gluten free jerk marinades you can now purchase or you can make your own marinade.

You can certainly make your own jerk marinade, but it does take time and require a few more ingredients than what’s listed above. Remember this jerk chicken is supposed to be fast, but not hurt for flavors. So go with your favorite store-bought marinade, but lets elevate it a bit with some additional freshness and flavor.

Chop the scallions, thyme, onion and scotch bonnet pepper. Use as much pepper as you can handle and remember to help control the heat a bit, don’t use any of the seeds. Do wash your hands with soap and water after handling such hot peppers. Grate the ginger and get ready to assemble the marinade. Pour the everything a bowl and whisk well.

Trim off any fat and excess skin off the chicken pieces (I used legs with the thighs attached), but do keep most of the skin as it will roast and give it a good color and some wonderful flavor. Since this is a fast-cook, we don’t have time to really marinate the chicken so lets go ahead and make a couple deep cuts down to the bone of the chicken (thick part).

Now pour the marinade all over the chicken and mix well.

Line an oven proof baking dish (I didn’t and it’s a lot of clean-up work after) with tin foil and pour everything into it. Set your oven at 400F and place on the middle rack when it comes to temp. After 30 mins, remove and flip the pieces of chicken, then back int he oven for another 10 minutes. So 40 minutes in total.

After 40 minutes it’s time to crank the heat up to give the chicken some color and really make it attractive. So set the oven at broil (525F), but do keep an eye on things as it will be easy to have it burn at this point. It will take about 4-7 minutes to take on a delicious colour. Remember to flip so you get even coloring. I must mention that most commercial jerk marinades are high in sodium so you’ll notice that I didn’t add any salt, but you can certainty add a bit of salt if you wish. If you wish you can also go with half orange juice and half pineapple juice in the marinade for a more fruity finish.

In under one hour you’ll have what I guarantee is an amazing Jamaican Jerk Chicken dish! And that gravy will be delightful on some rice and peas.

Seafood

Island Inspired Jerk Shrimp With Juicy Pineapple.

March 8, 2012March 4, 201236 Comments

There are tons of benefits of living in North America but as an island boy who loves my belly, I starve for fresh ingredients (fresh from the plant and earth) and I hate the fact that I’m limited by seasons. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve gone outside in -25 C winter blizzards to grill, but there are times when even the sight of snow or the fact that I have to layer up to go outside, gets me uninterested. Not even juicy jerk shrimp could see me deal with frigid temps. Don’t worry, Mc Donalds in never an option… Crix and sardines!

Pineapple and shrimp are abundant in the Caribbean and I remember that my dad always had a pineapple plant in our back yard when we were growing up, so this recipe is kinda natural for me. The marinating in rich jerk spices is just another welcomed addition. Let’s be clear for all my Jamaican friends who will point out that this is not jerk shrimp… yes I too agree, but it’s a delicious way to enjoy “jerk shrimp” in the cold winter months. (BTW you can marinate the shrimp as I did, place them on skewers (with the pineapple) and grill, if you want the smokiness of an open flame.)

You’ll Need…

1 lb shrimp (cleaned / deveined)
1/2 cup zesty Italian Dressing
2 heaping tablespoon jerk spice rub (your fav)
pinch salt
1 cup cubed pineapple
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper (any hot pepper you like)
juice 1 lime
juice 2 small oranges
2 tablespoon olive oil

optional…

* 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
* chopped scallion for topping

Note: I know when you think ‘jerk’ you think about the smoky flavors of the grill and zesty Italian dressing is not something which comes to mind. This is not a traditional ‘jerk’ dish, but I assure you that the flavors of the jerk spice, combined with the lovely citrus undertones of the fresh lime and oranges will give the shrimp and chunks of pineapple a lovely twist. At the end of this recipe I’ll share the video I did in preparing this exciting Caribbean inspired dish and I’ll also let you know how you can win a wonderful spice package courtesy of the Knox’s Spice Company.

Additional videos (click on the title to see):

How To Peel And Core A Pineapple

How To peel And Devein Shrimp

The size of shrimp you use is up to you as I used what I could afford (on sale at the time). If you’re in North America, you can always check out Asian grocery stores for really good prices and selection on seafood. Clean, devein and wash the shrimp. The goal is to marinate this for a bit, but since there’s vinegar in the Italian salad dressing you really don’t want to marinate for too long or risk the shrimp getting cooked with the vinegar.

Place the shrimp in a deep bowl and add all the ingredients except the olive oil, pineapple and optional chopped scallion. I added a bit of brown sugar to the mix as well, as I love the added flavor.

Give it a good stir and allow to marinate for about 20 minutes. Then heat a saucepan on a med/high heat and drizzle in the olive oil… remember to never get olive too hot (smoking) as it’s not good with high heat. Using a pair tongs or slotted spoon, fish out the shrimp from the bowl and add to the pot. Stir well and try to use a fairly wide pan as not to crowd the shrimp while they cook. You’ll notice they will start to do a couple things.. they will curl and will start to change to a brilliant reddish (almost orange) color. This is what happens when shrimp cooks. Cook for about 3 minutes (toss around to cook on all sides). This is one of the few times I will ask you to dump out the marinade and not use it in the actual cooking process.

Now it’s time to add the cubed pieces of pineapple to the pot. Stir well so as to pick on the jerk flavors and to warm through. Keep stirring and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Try not to overcook or the shrimp will go tough. If after adding the pineapple pieces you find that there’s a lot of liquid at the bottom of the pan, turn up the heat so it burns off in the 2-3 minutes it takes to cook after we’ve added the pineapple. For an added touch (if you really like your spice), when the dish is done and you top with the chopped scallions, add a teaspoon of the jerk spice rub and toss. This will give it a really heightened twist at the end.

You can certainly add additional flavors to this with some bell peppers and slices of orange if you wish, but I’ll leave that for another recipe and for you to be creative as you see fit. Watch the video below for how to make this wicked jerk shrimp with pineapple and for how you can win the spice package courtesy of The Knox’s Spice Company.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

Classic Jerk Chicken Wings In the Oven.

May 27, 2025October 10, 201166 Comments

Some of you will be saying “Chris this is just your original jerk marinade scaled down”, but with Tehya in the kitchen with me… I had to do this from scratch for her. This chile keeps having craving for spicy food, so this time when she came to me to make up a batch of jerk wings for her, I told her it’s time she learned how to organize it herself. You can see her in action in the jerk chicken wings video I posted late last night on the food channel.

I must mention that there’s no comparison to making this over coals on a grill, but with winter approaching I wanted to give you guys the option to be able to do this in the oven indoors. Now don’t get me wrong… no winter will ever stop me from grilling on the BBQ as I have no problem dressing like Sasquatch and taking on the cold to do my thing on the BBQ outside.

You’ll Need…

2 scallions (green onions)
5 sprigs of fresh thyme (about 1 tablespoon chopped)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Habanero pepper (scotch bonnet or any that you like)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1 onion
1/4 cup orange juice
2 cloves garlic

3 lbs chicken wings.

The first thing we have to do is make the jerk marinade. Give the onion, garlic, hot pepper and scallions a rough chop so it’s easier for the blender or food processor to work it into the runny consistency we’ll need. Remember to wear gloves when working with peppers with extreme heat like habanero and scotch bonnet.

Basically all we need to do now is pour everything into the food processor and give it a few pulses until you get a sort of smooth (runny) consistency.

* If you don’t have access to a food processor or blender, you can certainly chop everything as fine as you can and give it all a good mix in a bowl.

We then washed the chicken wings with some lemon juice (you can use lime or vinegar as well – about 3-4 tablespoons) and rinsed with cool water and drain. Pat dry with paper towels so the marinade can really stick onto the wings. Pour 1/3 of the marinade on the wings and using your hands, massage the wings with this lovely jerk marinade. Allow this to marinate for at least 30 minutes, before you place it into a 400 degree oven (middle rack).

After 30 minutes we took it out of the oven to give it a good stir (flip wings) and put back for another 30 minutes.

The last 5 minutes you can turn on the broiler setting and allow the wings to get a rich brown color with a sort of toasted edges. You may have to give them a flip to ensure all sides gets this lovely sort of charred look.

You will notice there will be a sort of gravy formed at the bottom, this is excellent to pour over peas and rice to accompany these jerk chicken wings.

Tips: Line your baking dish with aluminum foil or use a disposable pan when roasting these in the oven as I did (it will make clean-up much easier). Add some brown sugar and fresh ginger to the marinade for that extra kick of flavor. Remember that most of the heat in peppers are in the seeds and area around the seeds. So if you want to cut back on the heat level, remove the seeds.

To make dry wings, simply place the wings on a wire rack over your baking dish after the wings have been marinating. This will give you crispy wings which will be packed with a good punch of Jamaican jerk goodness.

Tehya was quite happy with the final outcome of her first jerk chicken wings and though she was a bit hesitant to use the large chef’s knife to chop the onions etc.. she was very proud of her accomplishment. In future videos/recipes I’ll try to include Indy and Kieana so you guys can get to know them better and they can learn how to cook so they too can carry on our culinary traditions. It’s time we got our children involved in the kitchen and away from all the other distractions (video games, computer, cell phones.. boys!)

Before I forget… the remaining jerk marinade can be stored in a plastic bowl in the fridge for at least a week or frozen for a couple months.

Before you go I invite you to leave me your comments below.. even if it just to say hello. It’s always appreciated. And don’t forget to join us on facebook and do check out the cooking videos.

Meat & Poultry Seafood

A Classic Jamaican Jerk Marinade.

May 27, 2025January 14, 2011155 Comments

jamaican jerk chicken

I just love the variety of exciting and scrumptious dishes you can find as you work your way up and down the islands that make up the Caribbean. To date I’ve not been to Jamaica, even though my friends who hails from there have extended several invitations the past few years. Hopefully I can make the trip down the next time they plan a vacation and finally get to see “jerk” done the traditional way. Until then, I’ll keep making my homemade marinade/sauce and hopefully you’ll give it a try. Beware! You won’t go back to the bottled stuff you get in the grocery store once you do though. You won’t believe how simple this is.

You’ll Need…

5 scallions (green onions)
5 sprigs of fresh thyme (about 1 tablespoon chopped)
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 scotch bonnet peppers
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1 onion
1/2 cup orange juice
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger

Notes: If you’re using dried thyme, use about 1/2 table spoon. This makes about 3 cups of marinade and it can be stored in the fridge for about 1 month.

Basically all you’ll be doing is making a puree with all the ingredients I mentioned above. So you’ll need a blender or food processor.

jamaican jerk marinade

Rough chop the scallions, peppers, garlic, onion and thyme and place in the food processor to make it easier to puree. Remember when working with these hot peppers to wear gloves (the natural oil is deadly). Also note that most of the heat is within the seeds and the membrane that surround the seeds. So to control the heat, discard those. However, for that true authentic Jamaican feel.. keep the entire peppers.

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Now add all the other ingredients and pulse to start. Then run the puree speed for about 2-3 minutes until everything breaks down to a smooth consistency.

jamaican jerk marinade (4)

jamaican jerk marinade (5)

For best results use this sauce immediately, but marinate your pork, chicken or fish (haven’t tried beef yet) for at least 2 hours before grilling or roasting in the oven. The next recipe I post I’ll show you how simple it is to use this marinade/sauce to make the Ultimate Oven Jerk Chicken. Stay tuned.

In the coming months I’ll also show you a secret ingredient I use to give this a Canadian twist.. I can’t right now as I’m sending off a challenge to Bobby Flay (he’s taking entries for a new show he’s working on). Wish me luck.

Don’t forget to join us on Facebook and check out the cooking videos – see on the upper right side of the page for links to those. And before you go, do leave me your comments below – it’s appreciated.

BTW, as we “Trinis” do… you can always add our signature to this by adding a couple shots of rum (I would use a dark rum), a little shado beni and how could we forget a drop or two of Angostura bitters.

Meat & Poultry Vegetarian

Shredded salad with or without leftover chicken.

May 27, 2025April 6, 200942 Comments

This one can work both ways, with or without the chicken so you can enjoy just the same if you’re a vegetarian. Some of you are probably saying that this is just a plain salad, but when you kick-in the bbq or jerk sauce to the chicken pieces, your taste buds will be asking questions… what took you so long to introduce me to this sexy number.

A great side or full course on a Monday night when you’ve got extra chicken from Sunday dinner and you’re looking for something light.

You’ll need….

1 medium Iceberg lettuce
1 medium Boston lettuce (can also use a red lead lettuce)
1 Carrot
1 English cucumber (about 6 inch piece)
1/4 of a small red onion
Your fav salad dressing

Optional

– leftover chicken (roast or bbq)
– your fav BBQ sauce (jerk would be excellent)
– salt and pepper to taste

caribbean-salad

Take the core out of the iceberg lettuce (stem and hard inner) by cutting the lettuce into 2 pieces (makes it easier to get rid of the core parts). Place on cutting board and with the use of a big sharp knife, cut into thin pieces – shred or julienne.

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Place the shredded lettuce in a large salad bowl. Now wash, peel (use a potato peeler) and julienne the carrots into 2 inch lengths.

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Place the julienne carrots into the salad bowl. Now it’s time to work with the Boston lettuce. Break off the leaves and rip into bite size pieces. Place the pieces into a salad spinner and run cold water over it. Boston lettuce is famous for packing sand on it’s journey to the supermarket. So we must wash really well.

caribbean-salad-11

After you’ve rinsed the Boston lettuce a couple times and spun it dry.. add to the salad bowl. Wash and peel the cucumber, using a potato peeler. Now slice very thin so when your fork hits the salad it can grab a bit of everything and not just a massive piece of cucumber. Do the same for the red onion. Along with making my cuts very thin, I go on an angle, so i never get a full ring. Our girls hate onions, so the less they can see it, the better the chance of them eating the salad. Plus, no one wants to bite down on a huge piece of onion.

caribbean-salad-6

With the lettuce (both types), red onion, carrot and cucumber in the salad bowl. Cut the tomato into wedges, get rid of the seeds, rib and stem parts. Now wash in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel, then add to the salad bowl. Toss salad now!

cut-tomatos-for-caribbean-salad

trinidad-spicy-salad

In a large non stick pan on medium heat, add about 2 table spoons of your favorite BBQ sauce or to make this really Caribbean-like, add jerk sauce ( I love the “Grace” brand when I’m not making it from scratch). Cut the leftover chicken into strips and add to the heated jerk sauce. Then top with about 2 more table spoons of sauce. We really want to coat all the chicken pieces. Let cook until heated through, since the chicken was already cooked from the day before.

caribbean-salad-trinidad

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Now it’s time plate and serve.. you’re done!

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Tip 1. Add the tomato just before serving. It tends to spring juices and get the salad a bit soggy.

Tip 2. I would get guests to add their salt and pepper. If you add the salt to the entire bowl of salad, the cucumber will tend to spring juices and get the salad a bit soggy.

Tip 3. Add the chicken just before serving. you have the option of cold or hot. If you’re going with cold, you can cook and place in the fridge with the salad in a different container. Hot or warm will enhance the jerk sauce.

Tip 4. Ask guests to not add salad dressing, but get them to toss the pieces of chicken that’s coated in the jerk or bbq sauce. The entire salad will pick up on the flavors.

Tip 5. Not really a tip, but this can be served without the chicken and enjoyed by your vegetarian guests.

I never though that posting a “salad” recipe would take so much work. I really hope you give this one a shot!

Chris…

jerk

Simple Oven Jerk Chicken For Students And Busy People.

Island Inspired Jerk Shrimp With Juicy Pineapple.

Classic Jerk Chicken Wings In the Oven.

A Classic Jamaican Jerk Marinade.

Shredded salad with or without leftover chicken.

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