Jerk chicken

This the seasons! it's 2016 and I still feel like I'm in 2015. Maybe because I still have tons of memories to share with a lot of you. ​

I want to share with you a simple and quick recipe to whip up for any occasion. Jerk Chicken! Never made it in my life. But after browsing a few recipes, this is what I whipped up at home with what I had.​

​Recipe​

• 18 pieces of chicken thigh (fat trimmed off as much as possible)​
• 1.5 full bundles of green onions​
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar​
• 1 tablespoon all spice​
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon​
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper​
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper​
• 8 cloves of garlic​
• 1 shallot​
• 4 Thai chilis (what I had at home. I would use serranos if I had some)​
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce​
• 1/4 cup (or so) of olive oil​

All items will be combined in a food processor. The oil will be drizzled in last to combine the ingredients together. Give it a quick taste for saltiness. If more salt is needed, just add a few pinches of kosher salt. The chicken itself will release a lot of fat, so you don't want the marinade to be too water.​

Place the chickens in a roasting pan and slather the marinade rubbing each chicken to make sure they have a coating. Wrap the pan with foil tightly, then preheat your oven to 350. You can let your chicken marinade overnight or with a few hours. I only let mine marinade for 30 minutes or so. ​

The chicken is place in the oven for 40 minutes, then the heat was cranked to 400 for another 15-20. The chicken was left to rest in the pan for an hour before I took it outside to give it a quick sear to caramelizes the chicken.​

Results:​

There you go! simple jerk chicken. I feel giving it a quick char is imperative because it really brings out the sweetness from the brown sugar and the crispy bits from the skin. Can't say no to that.

happy cooking. 

Lemongrass Beef

I've been craving lemongrass beef for the longest time EVER. I've also been meaning to make it, but never had much time to do so. And the days that I do buy lemongrass, they would start molding since I dont end up making the dish. With that said, I went ahead and bought a tube of lemongrass which you can find at your local market (I got mine from Ralphs).​

I had a piece of frozen skirt steak weighing in at about 1.5 pounds defrosted. I like to utilize what I already have, and ​simple ​recipes like this makes it easy.

​recipe​

• 2 tablespoons of lemongrass paste by Gourmet Garden​
• 1 large clove of garlic​
• 1 tablespoon of fish oil ​
• 1 tablespoon or so of granulated sugar​
• ​1-2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice (whatever you have)
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder​
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt​
• 1/2 teaspoon of cracked black pepper​
• 1 red Thai chili​
• 1 shallot​

The list may look lengthy, but you should have most of these items at home. For the red Thai chili, I keep a container of it in the freezer so they won't spoil. Garlic is minced, chili and shallots are sliced. Put All ingredients in a mixing bowl and let it marinade for at least 30 minutes to an hour. ​

On high, add some oil to your pan followed by your meat. You want a good sear and you will notice the char building on the steak from the sugars caramelizing. By the way, the skirt steak was cut up to smaller pieces before marinating. ​

Served with steamed jasmine white rice and your choice of veggie. Drizzle with sriracha and more citrus!​

Enjoy and happy cooking!