Caribbean Jerk Chicken
For our evening in the beautiful Caribbean, we’re going to enjoy a classic Antiguan dinner: Jerk Chicken
Prep time: 15 mins
Marinate time: 2-4 hours
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 4 hrs 45 mins
Servings: 4-6
Chicken:
4-6 chicken quarters
Marinade:
12 whole green onions, roughly chopped
2 Scotch bonnet peppers or habanero peppers, seeded and veined
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
½ medium Spanish onion
1 bunch fresh thyme, stems and all (about 12 sprigs)
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
¼ cup avocado or canola oil
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 ½ tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp Kosher salt
2 tbsp lime juice
Zest of 1 lime
Directions
Roughly chop the first six ingredients for the jerk marinade, and toss them into a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth, but chunky. Reserve 1/2 cup of the sauce in the refrigerator.
Make a series of 1/4-inch deep cuts into the chicken quarters to allow for the marinade to penetrate into the meat. Place them in a sealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken and massage to ensure chicken is completely coated. Seal the bag and place the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.
Light your grill and set up for two-zone cooking. While the grill is preheating, remove chicken and remaining marinade from the refrigerator and allow them to sit at room temperature for no more than 20 minutes.
Place chicken over direct high heat and allow the skin to char but not burn. Flip and turn the chicken often until desired level of charring has happened, usually about 10 minutes.
Slide chicken over to indirect heat and using a long silicone basting brush, glaze the chicken with remaining marinade. Close the grill lid and allow chicken to cook until the internal temperature reaches 180°-185° F, usually about 20 minutes.
Remove chicken from the grill, garnish as desired, and serve hot. Authentic Caribbean chicken is usually chopped into pieces before being served. Unless you have a heavy-duty meat cleaver this is challenging so I generally separate the leg and thigh and serve them like that, but you can serve them whole as well.
