Jamaican Jerk Marinade
OK, this is spicy but of course you can take down the heat if you like. I mean this dish will make you sweat. I reserved some of the marinade to use as a sauce. After I blended it, I took out what I need to use as the marinade. Then I added cilantro an lime juice and a touch more oil to what was left in my food processor. I served the sauce on the side and that turned out to be a great idea. Why? Because everyone likes extra sauce on everything all of the time. This was inspired by a jerk recipe I found in Food and Wine magazine, a fine publication indeed!
Ingredients
- For the Jerk Marinade
- 1 onion
- 2 scallions
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper (or less, this was hot, hot, hot)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon 5-spice powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground all spice
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- Fresh limes for serving
- Fresh cilantro for serving
Instructions
Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. (SEE NOTES about making extra sauce)
I used this to marinate chicken overnight. And I just brushed it on the shrimp just before grilling. Then just light a grill and cook until the chicken is done. THe shrimp will cook fast, so just put them on once the chicken is done or almost done.
Serve with limes, pigeon peas and rice, grilled veggies.
Notes
Then I just grilled the chicken and the shrimp. I served this with pigeon peas and rice and a peach salad that was just basically peaches, lime juice and cilantro with a hit of salt and pepper. And since the grill was hot I grilled up some Vidalia onion and baby peppers.