Jerk Chicken Bahamas style: A Guest Post from Lena M Bonaby

If you read this blog every now and then, you will realise that I am a full time Senior Lecturer at a Law School in Central London. I have had the pleasure of teaching many students from different cultural backgrounds.

It is often surprising the frequency with which we eventually turn to matters food and drink. I think that each culture's heritage is firmly rooted in its culinary heritage. And it is in discussing our similarities and differences that we can cross the bridges of distance between nations. Many years ago, Keith Floyd pronounced that to know a country, one had to eat a country. I have repeated it many times, not because I am unimaginative, but because to me, it really seems to be the truth!

Lena M. Bonaby is one of my former students (formerly Lena Hield). She was a hard working and committed student. She was called to the Bar after successfully completing the course to qualify as a Barrister and returned to Freeport in the Bahamas to practice. Yes, whilst I slave in the grey and cold and rain, Lena gets to work in the tropical sunshine! There are days it is inevitable that I sink into envy, but never bitterness. Lena was always a student who deserved every success and her smile was like the bright beautiful sunshine of her homeland. She really was able to brighten a room, just by being in it. 

Lena married McKell Bonaby in February 2011 and in November 2012 welcomed son Blaine into the world. Blaine is an adorable little boy, who apparently falls asleep to the strains of Beyonce singing 'Halo'. 

All new arrivals need time and care. And we can forgive it if they take their parents' attention from other things. So I hope you won't mind if Lena has been unable to post a picture of the completed dish. She has meant to, but I think we all agree that it is only right that little Blaine comes first.

Now, without further ado, I'll pass you over into the far more capable hands of Lena....

My love for cooking began when I was a little girl. My mom was a stay at home mom, and she began cooking when she was only eleven years old.

She had numerous cookbooks, and tried just about every recipe that one could think of. I use to watch her cook, and I would taste whatever she cooked. My love for cooking stems from my love for food, and from watching my mom cook.

When I was old enough, around ten, she allowed me to assist her with some dishes. I was cooking on my own from I was about eleven or twelve, just like my mom, but my cooking was limited as she was the sous chef in our home.

By the time I was twelve, I had mastered many dishes, including one of my favourites, Lasagne.

I absolutely love cooking, and I can cook and bake 80% of my favourite foods. 

I love making Lasagne and other Italian dishes, and various Caribbean and Indian dishes. My favourite cake that I love making is pineapple upside cake.

Lena M Bonaby's Jerk Chicken Recipe

(Serves 4+ depends on whether the chicken leg is separated from the thigh)

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes

Total time: 3 hours +

Jerk marinade:

4 chicken thighs (with legs, attached or detached) 

1 lime, juiced

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing grill grates

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1/8 – ¼ cup light brown sugar (to taste)

2 teaspoons ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (season to taste)

Fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Score chicken and season with kosher salt and ground pepper, and put in a casserole dish or into a resealable plastic bag.

Combine all marinade ingredients in a blender (or food processor). Blend all of the marinade ingredients together in until smooth.

Cover the chicken with the jerk marinade and toss to coat. (If you used a casserole dish, cover it with plastic wrap OR if you used a resealable bag, ensure that you secure the bag properly with a tie or knot). Refrigerate the chicken with the marinade for at least 2 hours for the flavours to meld. If you have the time, let the chicken marinate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 35 minutes in the oven.

Remove from the oven and finish on the grill (use oil on the grill to prevent the chicken from sticking to the grill).

This is the chicken before it has been grilled

Preheat grill to high. Grill for 2-4 minutes on each side

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

Snigdha's interfering busybody notes (why can't she just keep her nose well out of it?!):

350 degrees Fahrenheit works out to 177-180 degrees Celsius/Centigrade.

Please marinate in a non-metallic bowl, as the acids in the marinade will taste funny if left in a metal bowl.

Scallions are the American name for spring onions.

A jalapeno is obviously a chili. If you can't find them then substituting another type of chili should be fine.

If you can't find low sodium soy sauce, then you could use regular, but you may need to drop the amount of salt you add.

Allspice is not a mixture of spices, but a powder made from grinding the Allspice berry (AKA Jamaica Pepper).

Kosher salt is salt with no additives, so if you cannot find specifically 'kosher' salt, then use additive free salts such as Maldon Sea Salt.

Rice and Peas Freddie Stylee: A Guest Post from Freddie Patmore

I am delighted to host one of my series of Guest Posts. This one is from a friend of mine, Freddie Patmore. Freddie is a woman of considerable talent. Warm and funny, she is awesome company. Her interests are wide, ranging from mathematics, food, film and craft. She is also one of the nation's leading authorities on knitting, the creative and artistic skill which is only recently getting the recognition it deserves. 

Freddie is the co-author of "Knit Step by Step" and "The Knitting Book", both published by Dorling Kindersley. The Knitting Book is considered something of a Bible to knitters and contains some of the clearest explanations of techniques available; all supported by superb diagrams and photographs. It's like having the wonderfully enthusiastic Freddie herself standing over your shoulder telling you 'Watch out! You're about to drop a stitch!'. 

Freddie works as a consultant at Rowan Yarns and can sometimes be found on the 4th floor of John Lewis Oxford Street. So lovely is she that if you have any questions or issues about your knitting, or even your crochet, she will take time, trouble and heart to help you. She is a rare and lovely person. And she is the brains behind 'Knitting Rocks'; a project to get younger people into this most relaxing and productive of creative crafts.

Freddie has been an enthusiastic cook for some time. She invents her own dishes and experiments with food all the time. But it was when she declared she had her own 'family recipe' for Rice and Peas that I had to ask her to help me by providing a guest post. Being the kind, sweet and amazing person she is, it was emailed to me within 12 hours of asking. 

If you are interested in Freddie's writing (published in her full name Frederica Patmore) then I would refer you to the following sites:

The Knitting Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knitting-Book-Frederica-Patmore/dp/1405368039

Knit Step by Step: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1405362138

Oh, and before any cynics say 'well, she only provided the recipe so that Snigdha would post links to her books.' I say not a bit of it. I wanted to tell you about Freddie and her many talents, and decided to do so without telling her. Frankly, she would actually be jolly embarrassed that I've done so. (Sorry Freddie! Please forgive me! But you hide your light under a big woolly bushel, and it is high time it shone for the world to see!)

Anyway, this is something for Freddie and I to work out beyond the confines of the internet......

So I say, over to Freddie:

With icy conditions fast approaching, sometimes it's time to break out the big guns. Serious soul, comfort food, rice and peas. For me an excellent accompaniment to grilled spiced meats, curries, or great on it's own.

My relationship with food has always been a bit of a unique one I feel. With family members from Ireland and Guyana, you end up with quite a mixture! I boast my fishmonger uncle and my Dad who took cooking lessons in his late thirties to improve his cheffery proudly. For my 21st birthday I sent a notebook around the country to all my family members and asked everyone to contribute one recipe! Even my little sister, who at the time was 9, chipped in. I now go about adding to it every now and then. And this tweak on a classic has been in there for quite some time now!

This is a warming dish, relatively good for you, very filling, and dairy free for people like me who can't enjoy cows-milk! Creamy risottos and dauphionoises are a no-no, but this doesn't make a half bad substitute.

Rice and Peas Freddie Stylee! 
Serves 4, comfortably!

Ingredients
1 1/2 mugs long grain rice, washed the day before and dried out mostly
1/2 can kidney beans
Fistful of spring/salad onions, chopped
1/2 can low-fat coconut milk (make sure you shake it up before opening it!)
Dried Thyme
One small onion, finely chopped
2 hefty garlic cloves, crushed
Powdered Ginger
A chilli of some description
One bay leaf
Vegetable oil
Chicken Stock
Cumin/coriander/black onion/mustard seeds (optional) To taste.

Heat a generous splish oil in a large saucepan, add onion, crunchy spring onion pieces and spice seeds, if using, and fry gently until softened. Save the greener bits of the spring onions for later.

Add the rice, thyme, garlic and ginger and fry on a low heat, stirring regularly, for about 3 minutes, until the oil has coated the rice completely.

Add 1/2 chicken stock, 1/2 coconut milk fluid until the rice is covered over by about an inch. Chuck in a hefty pinch of salt. Don't be shy, these are big servings and you have lots of beans to season. Add the beans now, and a whole chilli, pierced, or some crushed up chillies. Just a sprinkle.

Simmer until rice is cooked and tender, stirring occasionally. Cover and remove from heat, leave to rest for about 5-10 minutes.

Stir in remaining spring onions and serve for a hearty, wholesome warming dish. Delish!