Chicken Jerk

For the past couple weeks I've been trying out a couple new things, but haven't posted because I either didn't take accurate notes for respectable posting, or they were simply lame. But now...the chicken jerk...

I won't bore you with the origin of jerked chicken, as I am assuming you can research it yourself by the fact that you are reading this, but I will say that my favorite origin story involves "jerking" the chicken around poking holes in it and stuffing the holes with spices. Despite the legend, I do it differently. I've made jerked chicken on several occasions before: first combining and blending the marinade and "jerking" the chicken overnight before grilling to island perfection (sometimes perforating the flesh, most times not). I took a different tact with it this time by first making a spice rub of salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg and letting that get comfortable on the chicken thighs for about an hour before searing both sides in a cast iron skillet.

I put the rest of the usual ingredients together in the blender: garlic, scallion, ginger, habanero pepper, lime juice, soy sauce, white vinegar, and I think a little thyme. This is poured into your favored Dansk enamel pot over the seared chicken and let alone covered to simmer for 2-3 hours. I went three awaiting a visitor at the expectant time.

The chicken is removed and set aside to cool.

The chicken is then pulled from the bones and placed back into the jerk sauce until serving. I, myself being poor, put it on toasted sourdough that I keep stocked in the bread bin and served it (sadly to myself) with a simple cabbage salad of red cabbage, shredded carrot, julienned cucumber and a dressing of vinegar, oil, sugar, garlic, and thyme. I left out the salt, as I pre-salted the vegetables to draw out their moisture and break down their cell walls, so my dressing could properly penetrate them with flavor.

Note to self: macro shots of cooked meat frequently tend to be gross.