Today is the last day to get chicken quarters for .79 cents a pound at R&R Quality Meats & Seafood! Jerk your chicken, then shred the meat off the bone for great tacos.
Jerk Chicken
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup dark rum
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 bunch scallions (white and green parts), roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Scotch bonnet chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
2 tablespoons Pickapeppa sauce (see the note below)
1 tablespoon freshly grated peeled ginger
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 chicken halves or 8 quarters (about 6 pounds)
Pulse the vinegar, soy sauce, rum, brown sugar, scallions, garlic, chile, Pickapeppa sauce, ginger, allspice and pumpkin pie spice in a food processor to make a slightly chunky sauce. Heat the oil in a medium skillet and cook the sauce over medium heat, stirring, until the oil is absorbed and the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Cool.
Rub the jerk paste all over the chicken halves, cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.
Prepare an outdoor grill with a medium-high fire for both direct and indirect grilling. Position a drip pan under the grate on indirect side. Place the chicken, skin side down, over direct heat and cook until skin crisps and has definite grill marks, about 4 minutes per side. Move to indirect heat over the drip pan and cook skin side up, covered, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let the chicken rest about 5 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve.
Pickapeppa — the celebrated Jamaican bottled sauce — is a blend of tomatoes, onions, sugar, cane vinegar, mangoes, raisins, tamarind, peppers, and spices. Fans use this “Jamaican ketchup” on all manner of grilled foods. It adds a distinct punch to this version of the island’s spicy jerk marinade.