Oh my goodness look at these scotch bonnet chillies! I love scotch bonnets - they’re properly spicy but also have that lovely fruity tanginess to them.
This photo is one a friend sent me of the beautiful display at her local shop - and then sent me five chillies in the post (this was written in lockdown times, should you be reading it later) as we can’t meet up right now.
So I made jerk chicken and this simple jerk sauce is so easy and delicious I wanted to share it and you could use it with fish or vegetables too.
I confess I have absolutely no idea how authentic or not this is - it’s a simplified version of the one from Jamie Oliver’s 30-minute meals book (which I LOVE by the way - I don’t try to cook them in 30 minutes but there’s lots of great ideas there that I have taken inspiration from).
There are two ingredients here that might be a little harder to get but that to me you absolutely have to have … and that’s the scotch bonnet chillies (rather than using any other variety) and the golden rum. DO track ‘em down because I think they’re what makes this dish just so good.
So … ingredients - and this will be enough for either two or four I think, just one has more sauce but you can play around with it of course and just make what looks good to you.
1 scotch bonnet chilli, diced
2 spring onions, sliced
2 fat (or more smaller) cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 heaped teaspoon Allspice
1 big tablespoon runny honey
6 tablespoons golden rum
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar or scant ones of white malt vinegar as I used
And then you just blend it all up to make a sauce, literally, that’s it.
I like to slice the chicken breasts in half to make them thinner, leaving them joined at one end, and ideally with skin-on, but I only had skinless so that’s what I used.
I season them and massage in olive oil and cook on the griddle (or in a non-stick pan) for a few minutes until golden each side. If your chicken has skin then start with the skin side down.
Then pour the sauce into an oven dish and lay the chicken on top and cook in a medium oven for maybe 20 minutes turning once halfway.
I’d also add fresh thyme and rosemary too now but have to confess I was just too lazy to down to the garden to get any! I will do next time and will add another picture - it’ll look much prettier and definitely worth adding for the extra flavour, but I still really love it just as it is.
Check if the chicken is done, cook a little longer if needed.
Serve with rice and salad. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander if you have any and if you like it.
I’ve realised writing this up that I was missing a lot of things that would make it even better, but hey it was still good … and very, very simple … and that counts for a lot for me.
