Oven baked Jerk Chicken

I've often come across recipes for 'Jamaican Jerk' chicken and think 'what the..?' but what the 'jerk' really refers to is the way the meat is slit or cut to absorb marinade.  This recipe is a super-easy one and I think I will be making this up in bulk in the marinade and storing it in the freezer.  Easy to pull out, defrost and 'bung in the oven'.  Even if you don't go down that route, to make it all up really does take no time at all.  This time I marinaded for only 30 minutes and had it on the table 1 hour later.

You can spice this up as much as you like, as I was trying this recipe out for the first time I thought I would tone down the chilli for my frills - they like chilli but I thought I would play it safe.  I think next time I'll ramp it up a bit, but you know know what you like, go with what you think is best.

I adapted this recipe from 'Cook Express' by Guy Mirabella. I love this cookbook, I got it from one of those liquidation book sales, so if you find it - pick it up!  I found a copy of it in Philippines and gave it to a colleague and his fiance as an engagement present, it's like the encyclopaedia of quick fix meals!

Ingredients:
1.5 kg chicken pieces
zest and juice of 2 limes
1 red and 1 green chilli, de-seeded and chopped
handful of coriander
handful of italian parsley
2 stalks thyme
3tb brown sugar
2tb vegetable oil
1tb cracked pepper
1tsp sea salt
1 tin of sliced pineapple


Method:
Score some slits into your chicken about 5mm thick and place into a ziplock bag.

Zest your limes (I just want to show off my microplane, I love this for zesting!)

Put the rest of the ingredients besides the pineapple and chicken in a food processor and give it a good whizz!

Now it looks like sludge, but it's delicious sludge, put it on top of your chicken in the ziplock bag...

Squeeze the air out of the ziplock bag, zip it up and give it a good shake and make sure the marinade is well distributed all over the chicken.  Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight if you like..

Preheat oven to 200 degrees c.

Place the chicken in a baking dish and place the chicken in the bottom.  Lay the pineapple rings over the top of the chicken and pour roughly half the juice from the tin over the top of the chicken.

Bake for 1 hour.  Serve with rice or salad

Yum!!

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