Spicy Jamaican Chicken w Pineapple Salsa

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If you haven’t been to Jamaica then this dish will deliver, sun, sea and a little spice all on one plate.  Chicken thighs marinated with the traditional Jerk marinade, will make you want to get up and limbo when all of these aromatic flavours hit your palate, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, garlic, ginger.  The pineapple salsa has the beautiful cooling effect, all in a light wrap.  Great for the BBQ, bach, picnic or just because.

Prep Time: 20 Mins

Cook time: 1 Hour

Serves: 4

Ingredients

6 chicken thighs, boned and skinless

PINEAPPLE SALSA

2 cups fresh pineapple, finely diced (or tinned diced pineapple)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
4 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
2 tbsp runny honey
1/2 tsp hot chilli sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice (or to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

JERK MARINADE

6 spring onions, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red chilli pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup ground allspice
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180 oC.

First prepare your salsa. If using a fresh pineapple, remove the skin and hard core and chop the flesh into small cubes.  (If using tinned pineapple, drain.) Combine with remaining salsa ingredients and chill for about 30 minutes.

To make the marinade, put all ingredients except for the salt and lemon juice into a blender and process to a smooth paste. Add salt and lemon juice to taste.

Pop your chicken in a plastic bag, throw in 1 tbsp of jerk marinade per piece of chicken, and massage it through the meat.  Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Remove chicken from the bag and roast it in a grill dish for about 30 minutes, or until your chicken is nicely browned and thoroughly cooked. Ensure that the chicken meat does not sit in the juices released from the cooking, so that it gets an all-round crispiness — it’s just as easy to chuck it on the barbecue like they do back home in Jamaica.

TO SERVE: Serve with hot buttered naan or pita bread and a spoonful of the pineapple salsa.