Tuesday, August 07, 2007
simple chicken dinner
Last night I made roast chicken. It's one of my favorite things to make, because it takes very little effort and tastes wonderful. I use Nigella's method of rubbing it with butter, salt and pepper and cooking it in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes per pound plus 10 minutes. I usually put a halved lemon in the cavity also, but I forgot to get a lemon. I scattered some whole garlic cloves around the chicken also. It turned out good, as usual, with crispy skin and juicy meat. I put a bag of frozen brussel sprouts in the roasting pan after I took the chicken out, and roasted them for about 15 or 20 minutes. They got great flavor! I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking:
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Jerk!
The other day I went to get some lunch at a place I've wanted to try for a while. It's a Jamaican restaurant near where I live called Jamaica Irie. A small place tucked away in a strip mall, with Bob Marley posters all over the walls and Reggae pumping over the sound system. I tried to order the Ackee and Saltfish, but the guy said he has trouble getting ackee in anymore. Darn. It would have been fun to try a completely new food. Oh well. So I decided on the Jerk chicken.
I soon got over my ackee disappointment when I saw my lunch. A large portion of chicken, mostly the thigh and leg, bone-in, with a dark, fragrant coating on it, a huge pile of beans and rice, a little salad with some spicy looking dressing on it and a few slices of fried plantain.
The chicken was sooooo good. A good amount of heat with a bit of cinnamon flavor, and very moist (yay for skin-on bone-in cooking!!). The rice was flavorful as well. I thought there could be more beans, but that's probably just because I love beans way too much. The salad had good flavor, but I'm not a fan of iceberg lettuce. Still, it was a nice cool crunch contrast to the chicken. The fried plantains were sweet...a good accompaniment to the savory spicy chicken and rice. It was a comforting meal, yet still unique and new (to me). I'll definitely be visiting again. I'm excited to try the goat curry and the oxtail stew! Meanwhile, here's a good Jamaican recipe site with photos.
I soon got over my ackee disappointment when I saw my lunch. A large portion of chicken, mostly the thigh and leg, bone-in, with a dark, fragrant coating on it, a huge pile of beans and rice, a little salad with some spicy looking dressing on it and a few slices of fried plantain.
The chicken was sooooo good. A good amount of heat with a bit of cinnamon flavor, and very moist (yay for skin-on bone-in cooking!!). The rice was flavorful as well. I thought there could be more beans, but that's probably just because I love beans way too much. The salad had good flavor, but I'm not a fan of iceberg lettuce. Still, it was a nice cool crunch contrast to the chicken. The fried plantains were sweet...a good accompaniment to the savory spicy chicken and rice. It was a comforting meal, yet still unique and new (to me). I'll definitely be visiting again. I'm excited to try the goat curry and the oxtail stew! Meanwhile, here's a good Jamaican recipe site with photos.
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