Absolutely nothing beats classic Caribbean stewed chicken in my humble opinion. And with that in mind (not trying to deal with people saying I ruined a classic recipe), let me show you how to change things up a bit by adding mushrooms and olives to already classic way to enjoy island-style chicken. A little experimenting with other ingredients I enjoy and thus this recipe was born. Coincidentally my girls will not touch olives, so the entire pot is usually mine!
You’ll Need…
3 lbs chicken (legs and thighs)
1 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
2/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 small onion (diced)
1/2 medium tomato (diced)
1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon veg oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 cup green olives
1/2 lb mushrooms
2 tablespoon Parsley
Important: If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the Worcestershire sauce.
Clean/trim the fat and skin off the chicken and get ready to season. In a large bowl add the chicken, black pepper, Caribbean Green Seasoning, scotch bonnet pepper, tomato, onion, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup. Stir well and allow to marinate for a couple hours in the fridge. Remember to wear gloves and to wash your hands immediately after handling spicy peppers. Don’t add any of the pepper seeds if you’re overly concerned about the heat level.
Heat the oil in a heavy dry pot on a medium high heat, then add the brown sugar and stir. It will go frothy, then start going darker in color. As it gets to a deep amber color, it’s time to start (be careful) adding the seasoned chicken to the pot. Yes it’s ok if the marinade goes in too. Please watch the video below to follow along, as if the sugar goes beyond amber in color you’ll have to start over or the dish will be bitter.
Stir well to coat the chicken pieces with the caramelized sugar, reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes. Then uncover and crank up the heat to burn off the accumulated liquid. This will give the chicken a lovely color and infuse it with that ‘stew’ flavor we luv in the Caribbean. At this time you can also add the cut mushrooms to the pot.
With the heat on high it will take about 5 minutes to burn off the liquid. be sure to stir so it doesn’t burn.
Swish around the water in the same bowl you marinated the chicken in to pick up any remaining marinade, then add it to the pot along with the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer (lid on).
After another 8-10 minutes and the chicken should be fully cooked (providing you didn’t use massive pieces). Remove the lid and crank up the heat to help thicken the gravy to your liking. This is also when you’d taste for salt and adjust. Add the olives and parsley at this point… probably takes 3-5 minutes to thicken up nicely. You’re done!
A delicious twist on a classic Caribbean recipe. Serve as you would normally serve a typical chicken dish.. for me it was on top of a bed of steaming par-boiled long-grain brown rice.
Do you own a copy of my cookbook ?- The Vibrant Caribbean Pot 100 Traditional And Fusion recipes Vol 2
