Saturday Recipe

I have never eaten jerk anything, one of these days I must try it. This, as it says, is inspired by jerk chicken.

Rum and Chili Roasted Chicken Thighs With Pineapple

Melissa Clark - The New York Times

Yield 3 to 4 servings

This dish, inspired by jerk chicken, uses amber rum to moisten the rub. The resulting dish is complex, mouth tingling but not searing, and softened by the golden cubes of succulent roasted pineapple. It's not quite recognizable as a jerk, but it is no less pleasing.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 scallions, trimmed and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons rum, preferably dark or amber
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chili pepper, seeded and chopped
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 6 chicken thighs, rinsed and patted very dry
• ¾ pound pineapple pieces, diced into 1/4-inch chunks or very roughly chopped
• Lemon wedges, for serving

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Preparation

1. In a blender or food processor, combine lemon juice and salt, and blend for 5 seconds to dissolve salt. Add scallions, garlic, oil, rum, thyme, brown sugar, chili pepper and spices, and blend until mixture forms a paste.
2. Rub chili paste all over chicken pieces. If you have time, let marinate for up to 45 minutes at room temperature, or up to 24 hours in refrigerator.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put chicken in a large baking pan and scatter pineapple around it in one layer. Roast until chicken is cooked through (juices will run clear when pricked with a fork), about 25 minutes.
4. Broil chicken and pineapple until chicken skin is crisp and dark brown all over and pineapple is singed in places.
5. Serve chicken and pineapple coated with pan drippings, with lemon wedges.

Have a great weekend