Who doesn’t love food!  Food is love, food is nurturing, food is life, and food brings people together.

As a child growing up in South America (Guyana), my mom cooked daily with fresh ingredients.  We didn’t have a refrigerator, so whatever was cooked that day was eaten the same day, and with eight kids, there was a lot of cooking.

I remember when my mom cooked, my siblings and I couldn’t wait to consume the food because the aroma was enticing.  With a great chef comes delicious, flavorful and tasty dishes and that was my mom.  My love of cooking comes from watching and assisting her in the kitchen and being part of a big family.

My mom would make various Caribbean dishes and pastries daily and on special occasion she would go big.

I took what I’ve learned an implemented these skills and techniques into my dishes.  I love to cook and eat all cultural foods.  You’re not living if you are not trying new things, so try a  new dish today.

For all my dishes, my goal is to use fresh ingredients (that may not happen all the time) so I know what is going into my body, and I add the flavors I want.  Enough of my ranting, let’s get into making my “Homemade Caribbean Lime Jerk Chicken”

Ingredients needed:

– Chicken (you can use any parts of the chicken you desire)

– Fresh limes (2 to 4) depends on how zesty you want the flavor

– Oil (I used olive oil, but you can use your favorite oil)

– Herbs (you can use fresh or dry, I used dried Cumin, Cinnamon, Allspice, Basil, Thyme (start off with 1 tablespoon and add more as needed)

– Garlic (4 Fresh chopped)

– Peppers (Fresh chili or flakes for some spice)

– Onion (1 chopped)

1. I like to cook my food with love and you should too. So pour all the ingredients on top of the chicken and mixed it all by hand and then use a fork to poke the chicken; this allows the seasoning to be infuse in the chicken, which add more flavor into the core of the chicken and not just the top.

2. After everything is mixed together, let the chicken marinate for 10 to 15 minutes. If you don’t have time skip this step.

3. Next, placed the chicken on a sheet pan (lay aluminum foil for easy clean up) and in the oven for 30 minutes covered with foil. By covering the chicken with foil, it keeps the chicken moist (steaming is going on).  The amount of cooking time will depend on the type of protein used.  I used chicken breast and I sliced each piece into two, which results in less cooking time.

4.  Grilled each piece of chicken for 1.5 minutes on each side to get a nice grill mark and color.

5. Now the only thing left to do is  plate and eat this beautiful tasty Caribbean Lime Jerk Chicken.

You can make different kinds of jerk recipes.  Here are other options to try following the instructions above: Jerk Cod, Jerk Salmon, Jerk Pork, Jerk Beef, Jerk Shrimp and Jerk Lamb.

Along with the above options, if you’re like me then you need a starch to go along with your main entree.  In my culture, our go-to side dish is peas and rice.  Peas and Rice is a staple in Caribbean houses.

You can create your own side dishes; here are a few examples, baked sweet potatoes, scalloped potatoes, brown or white rice.   Whatever sides you create, they will go well with any jerk dish.

Question: What’s is your favorite Caribbean dish?

Shevvymac

“Motivation Accountability Change “