JERK SEASONING and ALLSPICE - PART TWO
"Jerking" is a bird of another feather. Sort of a bird who flew through a forrest fire. Real Jerk seasoned chicken is based on two main ingredients and a style of cooking. - A nice wood burning pit for the style points and a two basic diet seasoning favorites using whats commonly found locally in it's region.
Scotch Bonnet chili peppers (or habaneros) and Allspice.
The Jamaicans do heat with the Scotch Bonnet, a cute little pepper (probably one of the prettiest) that can remove your esophagus while you are attempting to put the fire out with a Jamaican Red Stripe Beer. The clue is the puddle on the floor where it ate a hole straight down your body where your tongue used to be. You won't be laughing after one of these.
Scotch Bonnets can cause extreme pain if they come in contact with your eyes. Be sure to wear protective latex gloves while handling the chiles and the jerk paste and don't rub your eyes. I am dead serious about this. I usually cut the Bonnet stem and top off, cut into fours, discard any and all seeds or membranes, rinse the pieces and dice or mince.
THEY WERE WARNED
While I worked in Jamaica for Avis renting vehicles to the boat people, (Cruise ships), we referred many visitors to the "House on the Hill" in Montego Bay for the nice luncheon they served . Unfortunately, some guests did not pay attention to the warning from the servers that that beautiful yellow, orange, green or red Scotch Bonnet was for garnish. There was always someone from NY who grew up on "finger peppers" who thought he could tackle an uncooked Scotch Bonnet. The hospital in Montego Bay knew how to handle it with a massive milkshake of anti-acids to stop the tissue burning and blisters.
• This is why I recommend you wear gloves when working with them, a cut on your finger, all real chefs get them, will send you to another planet.
• Do not touch your eyes.
• Again, you cut off the tops, quarter them, dump the seeds, membrane and rinse, dice or mince.
• You cook early with them. The more raw they are, the more powerful. Cooking mellows them
• Do not go overboard. In this recipe we are using it as a marinade. They would be basting it in Jamaica.
ALLSPICE
The second main ingredient in JERK is Allspice. It is also called Jamaica pepper, kurundu, or myrtle pepper. It is a spice which is the dried unripe "berries" of Pimenta Dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name "allspice" was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who thought it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
Allspice is one of the most important ingredients of Caribbean cuisine. It is used extensively in the Caribbean with jerk seasoning where the wood is used to "smoke" the Jerk Chicken in Jamaica. Allspice is also indispensable in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly in the Levant, In Palestinian cuisine, for example, many main dishes call for allspice as the sole spice added for flavoring. In America, it is used and is also responsible for giving Cincinnati-style chili its distinctive aroma and flavor. Now you know the secret of the famous Chili recipe, add it to your Chili and the "Skyline is the limit".
JERK CHICKEN
INGREDIENTS: SERVE OVER RICE, WITH LOTS OF BEER and LOTS OF WATER
1/4 cup malt vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 or 1/2 Scotch bonnet pepper (or habanero), with seeds and membrane removed, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 green onion tops, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup lime juice
DIRECTIONS:
Light gray denotes safer start in pepper language. Put vinegar, rum, hot peppers, onion, green onion tops, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and molasses into a blender. Pulse until mostly smooth.
Place chicken pieces in a large freezer bag, or in a large roasting pan or baking dish. Pour lime juice over the chicken and coat well. Add the jerk paste to the chicken pieces and coat well. Seal the bag or cover the chicken in the pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the outdoor grill, panini grill, or gas grill to medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the marinade bag or pan. Brush vegetable oil onto the upper and lower grates to minimize sticking. Grill until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes.