32 replies to this topic

[Chris Hennes]

I made a jerk-styled BBQ sauce a couple nights ago to go with some brisket: sauteed an onion until soft, added a dry jerk rub and cooked for a minute or two, then some vinegar and oil. Pureed until smooth then simmered for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Pretty nice.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks -- those both sound great. I think that I'll go for Chris's sauce, in which I'll toss the already-cooked lamb in chunks. Should go well with rice & peas.

[FrogPrincesse]

I made jerk chicken last weekend for a Caribbean-themed meal.

I followed Steven Raichlen's recipe from How to Grill pretty much as is, with a few minor tweaks. First, I could not find any scotch bonnets, so I used habaneros instead. We have a friend who is afraid of anything spicy, so I used only 1 instead of the 6 to 12 that the recipe called for. We could feel a light bite from the habanero but all agreed that we could increase the heat a little next time.
The other modification was to use a couple of spatchcocked chickens instead of the pork shoulder the recipe called for. I ended up cutting them up in smaller pieces as they were taking a while to cook and we were all getting hungry.

Here is the marinade. It was very rich in herbs and it was really great to have the combination of all the dried spices with the fresh herbs. I used highly fragrant allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon that I bought during a trip to St Lucia last year.



Ingredients:
1 habanero (would increase to 2 or 3 next time)
2 bunches scallions
1 small onion
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh cilantro (I used a little more, about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley (same as above)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger
1.5 tablespoons dried thyme (I used herbes de Provence)
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram (I skipped)
2 tablespoons ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark rum
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar

I poked little holes all over the chicken before marinating it for a few hours.



Then it was cooked on the grill. The night of the dinner with our friends I served it with rice and callaloo, but forgot to take a picture. We had some leftovers, so the next day I served it with a non-Carribbean side dish (sugar snap peas with soffrito, hot pepper and mint). The callaloo is in the little earthenware dish. It was made with fresh spinach and fresh coconut milk.

The jerk chicken was extremely flavorful even though it had marinated only for a couple of hours. I will make this dish again for sure.



Before our meal, we had El Floridita No. 1 cocktails (Gary Regan's version) with rhum agricole from Martinique, and then switched to Red Stripe beers and homemade LLB, a soda made with lemon, lime, and plenty of Angostura bitters.