Jamaican Jerk Chicken Skewers, Samantha's all grown up

I thought I would add a recipe for cooking on the barbeque this weekend.  This one sounds so yummy.  I hope ya try it out and come back and let me know what you think of it.  I think it would be great served with rice and roasted green, red and yellow peppers.  Maybe some sweet bread or johnny cake (a yummy Bahamian bread I had when I went down there years and years ago)  Mmmmm!

 

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Skewers
Prep: 45 min.
Marinate: 1 hr.
Grill: 8 min.
Ingredients
2  lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2  Tbsp. whole allspice
1  Tbsp. snipped fresh thyme
1  tsp. black peppercorns
1/2  tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2  tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4  cup packed dark brown sugar
6  cloves garlic
4  shallots
1  Scotch bonnet or habanero chile pepper
2  Tbsp. dark rum 
 Lime wedges
Directions
1. Place each chicken breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound chicken lightly to 1/4- to 1/2-inch thickness. Remove plastic wrap. Cut pounded chicken breast halves lengthwise into 1-inch strips. Place the chicken strips in a glass or ceramic bowl.
2. In a spice grinder, combine allspice, thyme, peppercorns, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Grind mixture to a fine powder. (If some large pieces remain, pass mixture through a fine-mesh sieve; discard large pieces). Transfer mixture to a food processor. Add brown sugar, garlic, shallots, and Scotch bonnet pepper. Process until coarsely ground. Add rum; process mixture to paste consistency.
3. Add spice paste to chicken strips; gently toss to coat. Cover and chill for 1 to 24 hours, tossing occasionally.
4. Wearing plastic gloves*, loosely thread chicken accordion-style onto twelve 8- to 10-inch skewers.** For a charcoal grill, grill skewers on the greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, turning once. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place skewers on greased grill rack over heat. Cover; grill as above.) Serve chicken with lime wedges. Makes 6 servings.
5. *Note: Because hot chile peppers contain volatile oils that can burn your skin and eyes, avoid direct contact with chiles as much as possible. When working with chile peppers, wear plastic or rubber gloves. If your bare hands do touch the chile peppers, wash your hands well with soap and water.
6. **If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 1 hour before grilling.

 

I can't remember where I came across this recipe for Jamican Jerk Chicken Skewers, otherwise I would give credit where credit is due.  Me?  I hate things too spicy, so I probably won't use the habanero chile pepper.  LOL, hard to believe I'm half (actually 1/4) Mexican, huh?

 

But my (parternal) grandfather was born in Mexico and if I remember correctly, my (paternal) grandmother was part American Indian.  Blackfoot, I believe.  My mothers parents were this-n-that caucasians.  LOL, I bet they'd love to hear me describe them that way.  NOT!

 

The story goes that when my Father (a divorced half Mexican and 8 years older than my Mother) first went to pick up my Mom for a date, there sat my Grandpa, Ernest, on the porch.  He was cleaning his rifle.  I'm sure my Dad felt real welcomed, lol.  Not that it stopped him from marrying my Mom.  They ran off to Chicago and eloped.  I bet my Mom's parents were thrilled, lol.

 

So then Grandpa Long told my Mother that he didn't want to have a bunch of...hm, how did it go?  Well, in short he didn't want their (my parents) little Mexican babies playing in front of his house.  LMAO!  I bet it was a real kick in the azz when we all showed up with white blonde hair, my brothers with their hazel eyes and me with blue eyes. 

 

Speaking of beautiful blonde kids, lol, my daughter Samantha is graduating high school tonight. 

 

           

Isn't she beautiful?  I love her so much and am so proud of her.  I can't believe she's all grown up and already done with school.  Where did the years go?  I can still remember the day she wore that little blue dress to my older brothers wedding when she was just a year old.  It seems like just yesterday...oh, I sound so old saying that.  And the day we took the pictures so she could send one to the "Hanson's".  She was so in looooove with Zack Hanson, lol.

What ever happened to that little girl that used to tell people she had a p*nis?  LOL, she's gonna hate me for telling this story.  But I always tried to use the correct words when it came to the childrens bodies.  Samantha has an older brother, by 3 years, David.  Well, Sammi picked up the word p*nis and used to walk around saying "I have a p*nis". 

One day, somehow...I don't know how, we were driving somewhere and David (I think he was in kindergarten or first grade) used the word and Samantha said "I have a p*nis too".  David, sitting in the back seat next to her car seat, said "No Sam, you have a china.  Girls, have china's."  Me, head flipping around to the backseat like I was the exorcist or something, "What?!"  "Yeah Mom.  I learned that from the kids at school.  Girls have china's."  Okay, well, I guess that's public education for ya.  LOL

Well, I have to get going here.  I have a refrigerator that really needs to be cleaned.  Do y'all have those big sun tea jugs with the little spout?  Every single one that I buy leaks.  It makes a big ole mess in the bottom of my frig.  Yuck! 

Have a great weekend!
Hugs!

Tags: Jamaican Jerk Chicken Skewers, Samantha, graduation