Friday 2 August 2013

Caribbean Jerk marinated poussin- a post in association with Schwartz

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I know.. 3 posts in a week. Pat on the back for me right?
Well, truth be told.. loads of pending posts and me being a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my blog (OH MY GOD did I just say I was a perfectionist???), I end up taking a looot more time on a post with editing and re-editing and sometimes even re-cooking (is that a word?) and re-shooting. In spite of all this Ro finds grammatical and spelling mistakes in my posts. Seriously..he cant just say the picture is nice, or that dish was so yum , you should make it again or generally something nice about me.. but no, he says my grammar is rubbish and i need to pay someone (Jane, you in particular actually) to edit my post. Of course if i could pay someone to do my job, then I would have done that in the beginning itself wouldn't I? Anyway, who needs compliments from the husband when I have all you lovelies sending me all the encouragement and push needed to carry on blogging. Big hugs :)

Coming to the recipe. I first tried jerk chicken at the Nottinghill Carnival and liked it. Not loved it , but liked. That was around 4 years ago and then it was recently at Manjiri's place that I tried it again. She was enthusiastic enough to make the spice from scratch, but I was just plain lazy and picked up the Schwartz Jamaican Jerk spice blend off the shelves to give it a go. One word..loved it! Makes life so much more easier and it tastes absolutely fine. The recipe I followed was from the Schwartz website and it was a really simple one at that. I jazzed it up a bit and served it with rice and beans (again Caribbean in Nature), but its not really necessary. You can find other chicken recipes from Schwartz here

Caribbean Jerk marinated poussin (Recipe adapted from here)
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1 small poussin/ chicken- 500 gms
Schwartz Jerk spice blend- 1 1/2 tbsp
Soy sauce- 1 tbsp
Vinegar- 1/2 tsp (optional)
Vegetable oil- 1 1/2 tbsp
Onion- 1 small, roughly chopped
Garlic- 5 pods
Lemon- 1 half

Mix together the spice blend, soy sauce, vinegar and vegetable oil in a bowl.
Check for salt and add if necessary.
Place the chicken and garlic pods in roasting tray and pour over the marinade.
Rub it into all parts of the chicken. Try and get it under the skin if possible.
Keep aside for about 30 minutes. I skipped this part and baked it immediately.
Squeeze the lemon over the chicken and add it into the tray.
Pre-heat over to 200C and bake the chicken for 30 minutes.
Take the chicken out once the 30 minutes is up and baste with the juices from the tray.
Scatter the onion around and on top of the chicken and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes more. If you want, you can turn the chicken up side down. I didn't.
During the last 10 minutes or so, you can change to grill mode and broil it to get a charred effect.
Check if the chicken is done by poking the fleshiest part with a knife or skewer and if juiced run clear you are good to go.

Notes: Feel free to use cut chicken- legs, thighs anything.
The garlic gets roasted nicely and emits some great flavour, but not a must. Same with onions and lemon.
Its not a spicy dish (as opposed to the actual) one, so add some chilli powder if you want it hot.
Here is the recipe for the jerk chicken spice from scratch.

Rice with beans (Recipe adapted from here)
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Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
Onion- 1, finely chopped
Green chilli- 1, slit
Garlic- 2 cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Rice- 1 cup, washed and drained
Kidney beans- 200 gms, drained
Coconut milk- 1/2 cup
Chicken stock- 1 1/2 cups
Thyme- 1/2 tsp
Kidney beans- 200 gms, drained
Salt- to taste

Heat oil in a chefs pan and fry the onions till they soften and turn a bit brown.
Add the chilli and garlic and saute for a minute or two.
Throw in the rice and stir it slowly, making sure it is well coated with oil.
Pour in the coconut milk followed by chicken stock, and also stir in the kidney beans.
Bring to a gently boil on high heat. You can check for salt at this point and add if required.
Then reduce heat to low, put on the lid and let it cook for about 10 to 12 minutes or till all the liquid has been absorbed.
Open the lid and sprinkle thyme.
Keep closed for another 5 minutes after which you can fluff with a fork and serve immediately.
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Notes: The coconut milk I used was from powdered coconut and I may have diluted it too much, the taste of coconut was not obvious at all. Do use a good can of coconut milk for this recipe.
Replace kidney beans with gungo peas or black eyed peas.

This is a post in association with Schwartz

10 comments:

Unknown said...

You are a perfectionist Nisha !! I have no idea at all what that is, but lovely photos, goes without saying though! :)

Finla said...

Tell me about it i have so much food phots, but not edited etc.... and i do a post now after 10 days or so, but i think i will try to do more post from now one atleast from september onwards. Love jerk chicken with bean rice.

Reshmi said...

Its like beyond our expectations...Excellent nisha!

Priya Suresh said...

Cant take off my eyes from that well roasted Jerk chicken,highly irresistible,lovely foods there.

KitchenKarma said...

So now I have got to try yours after Manjiri's :-)

Indu said...

Always loved the sight of a whole cooked chicken. Especially love this one!

indugetscooking

Anupa Joseph (Palaharam) said...

hmmm...vecha kozhiyude mannam ..... love its looks...mouthwatering

divya said...

looks super yummy :) lovely clicks dear :)

easyfoodsmith said...

3 posts in a week is really commendable! It takes me nearly 2 weeks to achieve that feat!
The chicken looks truly amazing and spicy.

Kelvy said...

The poussin/chicken looks really yummy Nish.. wow 3 posts in a week is gr8... Well i dont think any correction or perfection is needed for the blog da, its gr8 :)