Jerk Chicken and Beans and Rice

Can you take one more Jamie Oliver recipe?  Yes, I know this is the third one in a row.  Yes, I know I need to plan my posts better.  My kitchen has been quiet though as I was away last weekend (and I do most of my cooking and baking on the weekends) so this is the only recipe I have left to post.  Which means............I need to get cooking this weekend!

Since this is the third Jamie post in a row I guess I don't have to tell you how much I'm loving my two Jamie cookbooks.  To think all these years I just never paid much attention to his recipes.  I thought he was fun to watch on t.v. but honestly didn't realize just how good a cook he is.  This recipe is from Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes which I believe was originally titled 30-Minute Meals.  Personally, I don't think it's humanly possible to make this dish in 30 minutes, but that's just me.  I like to clean up as I go along and if I were to even attempt to make this in a half hour my kitchen would look like a war zone.  I never need to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes anyway so I just took my time with this, but it's funny how Jamie gives you the instructions to get it all done in 30 minutes.  It's like 'ready.....set......GO!'  Oh, and the original recipe also has you making corn and a salad on top of the rice and chicken.  All in 30 minutes.  Yikes!  As I said, war zone.

I had never tried jerk chicken before so had no idea what to expect.  Joe has eaten it  numerous times from take-out joints near his work and always raved about it.  I couldn't wait to try it.

Well, after making the jerk sauce and tasting it, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be posting this dish.  I really didn't like it and because I didn't know what it was supposed to taste like, I didn't even know how to adjust it to my liking.  I only took 2 photos because again, I assumed I wouldn't be posting this.  Then of course we ate it.  Oh my goodness.......so flavourful, so delicious, I was so wrong.  The sauce was fabulous, the rice and beans were divine (loved the cinnamon flavour!!!), the yogurt was the perfect accompaniment.  Simply put, it was a fantastic dinner.  The jerk sauce calls for one Scotch bonnet.  I added two.  We are not afraid of heat and even with two Scotch bonnets, we didn't find this dish overwhelmingly hot.  However, if you're not a fan of heat or aren't that used to it, you might want to stick to one (or even use a different kind of chile). 

I wouldn't change a thing about this recipe, I thought it was spot-on delicious.  Every time I make one of Jamie's recipes, I become more of a fan.

Enjoy!

Jerk Chicken and Beans and Rice

Printer-Friendly Version

Chicken

4 x 6-ounce chicken breasts, skin on

1 tablespoon honey

a few sprigs of fresh rosemary

a few sprigs of fresh cilantro

Jerk Sauce

4 scallions

a small bunch of fresh thyme

3 fresh bay leaves

ground cloves

ground nutmeg

ground allspice

1/2 cup golden rum (I used dark rum)

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 Scotch bonnet chile (I used two)

4 cloves garlic

Rice & Beans

2 scallions

1 cinnamon stick

1 1/2 cups long-grain rice (I used basmati)

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

Yogurt

1 cup plain yogurt

a few sprigs of fresh cilantro

1 lime

Preheat oven to 425F.

Put the chicken breasts on a plastic cutting board and halve each one, leaving them joined at the top of the breast.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then rub all over both sides of the chicken.  Put into a hot grill pan, skin side down, and leave to cook. 

To make jerk sauce, trim and roughly chop the scallions and put into a blender or food processor with the leaves from most of the bunch of thyme, 3 bay leaves (stalks removed), a large pinch each of ground cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, 1/3 cup each of rum and vinegar, 1 tablespoon of honey and 2 teaspoons of salt.  Remove the stalks and seeds from the Scotch bonnet chile and add chile to the blender, then quickly crush in 4 unpeeled cloves of garlic (I peeled my garlic cloves) and blitz with the lid on until you have a really smooth paste.  Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to loosen, if needed.

The skin side of the chicken should be golden now, so turn the chicken over.  Pour the jerk sauce into a snug-fitting baking dish and use tongs to lay the chicken on top, skin side up.  Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of honey and scatter over a few sprigs of rosemary and the remaining thyme sprigs.  Put on the top shelf of the oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until cooked through. 

For the rice and beans, put a large wide saucepan with a lid on a medium heat.  Trim and finely slice the scallions and put in the saucepan with the cinnamon stick, a good lug of olive oil, and a big pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir and let soften for a minute or so, then add the rice and chicken broth.  Drain and rinse the beans, then add to the pan.  Stir gently.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a medium heat.  Pop the lid on and leave for 12 minutes.

Take the lid off the rice after 12 minutes and give it a stir.  All the liquid should have been absorbed.  Taste and correct the seasoning if need be.

Take the chicken out of the oven, sprinkle over some cilantro leaves, and take straight to the table. When serving, spoon over the jerk sauce from the bottom of the baking dish. 

Serves 4.

Source:  Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes

Pin It