J.O.'s Killer Jerk Chicken

Dinner: Jamie Oliver's Killer Jerk Chicken

In about half an hour, you are supposed to make chicken, corn, rice, and a salad. This one did not have a dessert included, although even if it did, I still would not have made it on a first try. 

Tonight is my first attempt at a recipe from Meals in Minutes. 

Annnnd...because it was so crazy and hectic, I did not have time to take a photo during the cooking process. 

Here is the result:

Jerk Chicken-minus the rum it called for, mostly because I did not have any on hand, and Superstore did not have anything besides a rum with coconut or kaluha. Jamie is definitely into putting wine, beer, rum, etc into his recipes, and it always tastes great. But alcohol in the UK is cheaper than it is here, so I don't always have a big bottle of something waiting to be cooked with in my cupboard.

I accidentally bought chicken w/o skin. Ugh! I also bought chicken breasts with the bone in. UGH! 

It was like a bomb went off in the kitchen. The multi-tasking was a big challenge for sure. I when I opened my can of black beans to put into the rice, (noname brand...not to point out it's cheapness or anything), it was a bad can. Yuck.  So I had to throw in good 'ol kidney beans instead. I also didn't have the million scallions he called for, I could only find friggen shallots. So be it.

And he isn't kidding, you really do need to pull everything out that you will need, before you start. It's crazy fast. And then all of a sudden he says (without telling you before), "pull out your blender and whiz up the sauce till smooth" and you're like, "WHAT?" and you go digging for your Magic Bullet in that godforsaken cupboard where your kid's massive crayon box is blocking it while balancing on the stool that she wants to climb on as well. Fun times.

It was like I had a voice in my head yelling, "Let's move, move, MOVE!!" the whole time. I guess that's why the book isn't called, How to Make a Relaxing and Stress Free Meal with Jamie. When does that one come out in stores?

Time? 1 hour. At least. 

Tastiness?  I overcooked the chicken (this is so not like me), because he doesn't give actual cooking times for anything...you are just supposed to follow step by step and when one item is simmering, you jump to the next thing and get started on it, and then jump back to that other one you started. But if you are slow on a step, something else is kept waiting. Therefore, slightly dried out chicken. But very tasty. The rice was just whatever. Corn? Fine. You may notice that a chopped salad did not make it to the table. It never even got out of the fridge actually. I would have been there at least another 15-20 on that one. And there was also a yogurt to go with the chicken I believe. Also never made it. 

My 18 month old demanded food after waiting extra long, and she didn't care about that dumb yogurt!

Did it make the rest of my family happy?

Yep!

All in all, I am already somewhat used to multi-tasking in the kitchen. I suppose when you attempt at least 3 new recipes all at once, you aren't going to come out with flying colours. 

Was it worth the effort? Sort of,  but maybe it's only necessary only once or twice a week...as in the days I am home and not at work. Would this kill Kenton to attempt a meal like this? Probably. He has a harder time with multi-tasking cooking. There could be a few F-bombs if he attempted it alone. But anyone gets better with practice, right??

Why doesn't Jamie come out with a slow cooker cookbook? Doesn't he know that throwing stuff together and then letting it cook all day is so much easier? 

Ah well. I am willing to try more recipes, so I will let you in on those as well!

Killer (double meaning, hmm?) Jerk Chicken gets a 3.0 out of 5.