Cookbook #70, Nigella Kitchen

When I lived in NY, I had some friends from Jamaica.  A couple of times a year, we'd head down to Brooklyn Tabernacle to hear the choir and then back to their place for the most amazing homecooked Jamaican meal ever...patties and jerk and rice, oh my.   One of Andrea's staple dishes was "rice and peas" a fabulous, savory coconut rice with beans.  Andrea always explained why they were called "peas" and not beans, but truthfully, I was too busy shoving my face with her cooking, that I don't recall the reason.

When I received Nigella's latest cookbook Nigella Kitchen, I began my standard processs of flipping through the book and adding sticky notes everywhere.  This was definitely a one whole pack of sticky notes kind of book...Irish Oaten rolls (with Guinness), Guinness Gingerbread (do you see Nigella's genius?), Coconut Cherry Banana Bread,  Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake, Papardelle with Butternut and Blue Cheese...it's all good. I had big plans for the Red Velvet Cupcake recipe, that is until I saw the Jamaican Jerk  and Rice and peas recipe.

The ingredient list is long and may be a deterrent initially, but after reading through, I saw that these were spices I already had and it was really just prep the night before.  Cooking the chicken and rice on the second day was easy peasy. 

Most of the rice and peas ingredients came straight from the can--the total effort was chopping onions, and then dumping everything in a pot and letting it cook for 15-20 minutes.

The verdict?  I'm a little torn on this one.  I think the chicken broth in the rice detracted from the coconut flavor of the rice.  If I made it again, I'd either halve or elimate the broth.  I also think both the rice and the chicken had a bit too much thyme and not enough heat.  I think Nigella went a bit meek on this--shouldn't traditional jerk have Scotch Bonnets?  Other than that, it was pretty tasty.  It's definitely not Andrea's, but I've never found Jamaican as phenomenal as hers. 

And the rest of the cookbook?  I'm hoping to find out sooner than later.  I have a couple other recipes tagged for this week, and the Red Velvet Cupcakes planned for Christmas Eve.

Homestyle Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas
From Nigella Kitchen

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breasts
• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper 
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 in piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 2 whole fresh red chilies
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered

Directions

1. Slash the chicken breasts, 3 slashes per breast, making each slash cut about 1in deep into the meat on the diagonal. Put the chicken breasts into an oblong dish, slashed-sides down.
2. Put all the other ingredients into a food processor and blitz to a dark, earthy paste, then pour and spread over the chicken pieces and leave to marinate, out of the fridge, for 2-4 hours, or in the fridge, covered, overnight.
3. Preheat the oven to 400F. Double-line a shallow roasting tin with aluminium foil. Tip into it the chicken, with its marinade, placing the chicken breasts slashed-side up. Roast for 30 minutes.
4. Take the tin out of the oven and pour off any excess watery juices. Use a pastry brush and a spoon to place any paste that has fallen off the chicken back onto the chicken, then return it to the oven and cook for a further 30 minutes, by which time it will be cooked through and tender with a thick, fiery crust. Serve with rice and peas.

Rice and Peas Ingredients

• 1 can kidney beans or black-eyed peas
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 red chili, de-seeded and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cups long-grain rice 
• 1 14fl oz can coconut milk
• 1 can chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Drain and rinse the beans/peas, and heat the oil in a heavy-based pan that has a lid.
2. Fry the onion for 4-5 minutes, stirring every now and again, letting it soften and brown a little as it fries. Add the chopped chilli and garlic, and give everything a good stir around.
3. Stir in the rice, making sure it is all slicked with oil, then pour in the coconut milk and chicken or vegetable stock, and stir in the drained gungo peas.
4. Bring the mixture to a bubble, clamp on the lid, turn down the heat to its lowest setting and let the rice cook gently for 15 minutes.
5. Check the rice is cooked through and the liquid is all absorbed – give the rice another 5 minutes if need be. Sprinkle with the freshly chopped thyme, and season with salt if desired, forking it through. Serve with jerk chicken.