LA played a trick on me this week. I thought Fall Weather was coming, and today, in parts of LA, the temps hit the triple digits (WHAT!). So I thought, as I often do, hot weather, requires spicy food. It is said that the spicy food, has a cooling effect on your body temperature. Perhaps there is something to that, as some of the warmest and most tropical places, have a very spicy culinary tradition. But I digress. When I think tropical, my mind often drifts to the Caribbean. So, as I continue to explore Africa, and the Diaspora, I have to revisit one of my personal favorites, Jerk Chicken.
When I was last in Jamaica, I made a point to try Jerk Chicken from every roadside pop-up I could find, as well as the hotel and "higher end" establishments. But, my favorite by far, was a restaurant suggested by our driver that was called Bourbon Beach.
It was an open-air restaurant, right on the beach, with a wood fire grill cooking up chicken. I watched as a brother with Dread-Locs, went back and forth from the kitchen, to the blender at the bar, to get his jerk sauce just right. It was like he was saying, "nah, that's not hot enough, let me add some more fire to it". When he finally landed on the right combination, and our meals were plated, every one of us were taken out by the sheer heat of the sauce, but none of us could stop eating it, it was just too flavorful. We tried to temper it with the "festival" dumpling, but nothing could abate the torture, and delight we were collectively feeling on our tongues.
Fast forward to the present, and each time I make Jerk Chicken, I try to emulate that sauce. I mix my own spices, and at one point even grew Scotch Bonnet Peppers, all to come close to what I experienced that night in Jamaica.
For this particular dish, I used my home made Jerk Spice Blend, a Caribbean Calypso Spice Blend I purchased in Milwaukee from The Spice House, and a Jamaican Seasoning Salt I brought back with me from my last trip to the Island. I put the chicken and the spices in a ziploc bag, and added some lemon juice, and the juice of a sweet lime to create a marinade. I mixed it in the bag, and let that sit in the fridge for about three hours while I was slicing the fruit and vegetables for the slaw.
The slaw took up the most time, and even though I used a food processor for uniform cuts, the amount of veg going into it, definitely made it a dish you would not want to make if you were in a hurry. I used, Green Cabbage, Red Cabbage, Carrots, Jicama, Sweet Onions, and Mangoes for the base, Then made a dressing with more of the Jamaican Seasoning Salt, Grainy Mustard, Sriracha Sauce, Honey, Greek Yogurt, and some Mayo. Tossed the salad with the dressing, and then put that into the fridge for the flavors to marry. Next Up, a Festival Waffle.
I have had my share of Festival, sometimes sweet, but more often savory. I imagined this as a sweeter waffle, thinking along the lines of a dessert to accompany sweet plantains, and a sorbet. As festival is typically a rather thick biscuit like batter, I had to thin the waffle out quite a bit with more than double the usual amount of Almond/Coconut milk. I also added some Cinnamon and significantly more Sugar than normal, in addition to the Nutmeg, as my plan was for a dessert waffle. Once "baked" in the waffle iron, I flash fried the waffle in a hot pan with oil, to give me the fried exterior texture festival is known for. I topped it with Fried Plantains, and a Mango Chile Sorbet, dusted it with Powdered Sugar, and that is how it was presented.
The last portion of the meal, and probably the most important was the Jerk Chicken. I intentionally left it in the fridge for as long as I could so that the spices could have their way with it. But, I could not have done an overnight marinade, as the acid in the lemon and lime juices would have started to cook the chicken, and created off flavors. The chicken was removed from the fridge after about three hours and placed under a low broiler. I live in a loft downtown, and I don't have a balcony connected to my unit. Maybe one day I will move up to the penthouse so I can cook as I please, but until then, I have a broiler, and that is an acceptable substitute. I cooked it under the broiler, turning once, and made a sauce for it from a pre-made Boston Bay style jerk sauce, a roux for thickening, and some chicken broth. Effectively a jerk gravy, but hey, it works. It was all plated in a stacked fashion, as is my tradition, and served as such.
Start to finish, the meal took around five hours to complete. Again, not a quick meal by any stretch. But there is a zen-like quality to slow cooking for me; a catharsis to ease my woes so to speak. I love cooking, and I love having this new forum to share it with everyone as well. So if you keep reading, I'll keep sharing. Meal completed around 3:30 a.m.
the Midnight Chef.
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