I’m back to crazy, so please join me as I make my way through posting five days a week. To celebrate, I’m bringing America’s Test Kitchen’s slow cooker recipe for Caribbean jerk chicken. This is definitely the simpler way to make this dish since you can trade in hours of marinating and grilling time for the simple slow cooking method of dumping it all in a pot and letting the chicken cook in the spice marinade, then give it a quick charring and crisping in the broiler and — done!
Imagine all the random awesomeness we can share with one another over ten minutes a day, for five days a week. See, I’m not even greedy with your time—drop in, grab some food and stay awhile or not. Let’s just make sure we connect because damn you guys are fun to bake and cook for and even better to converse with.
Seriously, my coffee-meeting friends just don’t get this whole blogging thing or hanging out online, chatting it up with people I’ve never met. Despite the many ways I’ve explained social media, they’ve reduced Facebook to a place where people solicit advice and pats on the back. Twitter as a playground for stating the obvious or the minutiae in life. Instagram as an app for triple filtered #selfies (self-portraits). And now Vine, a place of unbearable 6 second clips of people making coffee, walking and videos of their kids and pets.
That’s why this cozy corner is so dear to me. We’re like minded people. Although I’m willing to admit there may be a few objections to that last sentence. O-kay, I get that not everyone enjoys being a talker of randomness, a social media geek and a dessert-before-dinner type of person like me. . . well, if nothing else, we bond over food and if that’s the only thing—I’ll take it.
Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 scallions, chopped coarse
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 habanero chilies, stemmed and seeded
- 1 (1-inch) fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 2 teaspoons allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (split breasts, thighs)
- lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Place scallion, oil, habaneros, ginger, molasses, garlic, thyme, all spice, cardamom, and salt in a food processor or blender and puree. Transfer 1/2 cup mixture to slow cooker; reserve remaining mixture.
- Add chicken to slow cooker and coat evenly with scallion mixture. cover and cook until chick is tender, about 4- 6 hours on low.
- Position oven rack 10 inches from broiler element and start broiler. Place a wire rack in a foil lined bake sheet and coat with vegetable spray. Transfer chicken, skin side down onto rack. Brush chicken with half of reserved scallion mixture and broil until lightly charred and and crisp, about 10-15 minutes. Flip chicken over, brush with remaining scallion mixture and continue to broil until lightly charred and crisp on second side, about 5-10 minutes. Serve with lime wedges.
Notes
A few notes:
- If you aren't into spicy, omit the habanero peppers.
- If you accidentally over spice your sauce, add a few dashes of lime to neutralize some of the heat or add in pureed cucumbers to cool down the heat.
- I recommend doubling the marinating sauce so you have plenty to brush on the chicken for broiling step.
- Tweaks I made: I added cardamom and used fresh thyme over dried thyme.
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