Slow Cooker Jerked Chicken

Linda’s train was supposed to be getting in at about 20:15 so I decided I would make a meal that it wouldn’t matter if the train was late (as it happened it was early and I was sitting drinking a beer in a pub). I decided on the slow cooker and chicken, I had been reading about Jerked seasoning in a recipe book from St Lucia (I was there in 1994) and though this could be adapted for the Slow cooker. So here is an easy recipe.

Jerked Chicken, mushroom and paprika  done in the slow cooker

Ingredients

3 chicken legs (whole legs with a bit of the backbone on it, this gives the dish more taste)

Handful of freeze dried soup vegetable

1L of vegetable stock

1 large Spanish onion diced

1 large clove of garlic chopped

White of 1 leek sliced into fine rings

1 bunch of spring onions (greens cut into rolls)

500g of mushrooms quartered

1 bouquet garni /sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leafs, marjoram and oregano

Jerked dried herbs and spices made into a rub (cayenne chilli powder, dried oregano, dried rosemary, pimento powder, cinnamon powder, dried wild garlic, coriander, celery salt, smoked paprika powder, sugar, pepper, sea salt)

1 piece of mace

6-7 sundried tomatoes in oil (diced)

1 jar of grilled sweet paprika in oil (you can get them already sliced, you can also make them yourself)

Method

Cut each leg into 2 portions rub with the jerked spice mixture.

Fry the onions, leeks and garlic until translucent.

Put the dried soup veg in the bottom of a slow cooker and add the onion, leek, garlic mixture, in the same pan, fry the chicken portions (as I was using a small pan I done them 2 at a time).  Adding these to the slow cooker along with the tomatoes, spring onion tops, mushrooms and bouquets garni

Deglaze the pan with some of the stock;

pour this into the slow cooker along with the remainder of the stock. Turn on to high set the timer for 5 hours and forget about it (go to the pub for a couple of pints, I did as I needed to see that there had been no suicides after Germany's defeat at the hands of Italy.

1 hour before it is finished add the roasted paprika cut into strips.

Serve with rice or bulgar wheat.

I made bulgar, I sautéed spring onions, garlic and shallots stired this into the bulgar, added stock (1 cup of bulgar to 2 cups of vegetable stock), then stir in dried wild garlic and plenty of mint. Cover and allow to stand to absorb the stock

There is plenty of sauce in this dish, you can also wind up the heat and make it a bit hotter by adding a chopped chilli (habaneros or the like) into the onion, leek mixture, but I wanted the sweetness of the grilled paprika to come through, so let the jerked seasoning do its job.

 Note:  Jerked chicken would be normally grilled in a smoker made out of an oil drum cut in half and blackened on this home made BBQ, but done my way in the slow cooker, the meat is wonderful and tender, the sauce is fantastic (I think that I will cut down on the amount of liquid next time)and plenty left after 2 meals to make a soup. It was fiery but not blow your head off and sweet from the roasted paprika, in most recipes molasses is used, but as I am diabetic I dispensed with it. It also does not have that smoky flavour of a true Jamaican street jerked chicken, but hell I live in a flat.

This done 2 main meals for us and I took the liquid into work on Monday and it was eaten as a hearty stew for lunch, with some whole grain rye and sunflower bread.