Skip to main content

Cool Jerk

We had this at the weekend with Jamie’s four grain salad and an apple cider slaw. It was a pretty successful combination, a bit of a mash up of Jamaica meets Jamie meets the deep south.

The sauce was delicious and a breeze to make, once again it was from Mary Ellen McTague (I'm liking the way Mary rolls!)
The pork was pretty good too but didn't shred quite as I would have liked it to .. I need to do some work on that.  Plus I missed a bit of crackling, I think the extra fatty crunch would have gone down a treat. Something to think about for the next time.

Jerk sauce

This goes with just about anything. I had to beg our restaurant manager Siobhan Sewell for her awesome recipe, and she relented only when I promised not to give it to anyone else, so let's keep this between ourselves. Siobhan served it with her jerk pork (below), which was by far the best thing at a recent barbie, which was annoying because I'd done the rest of the food. I've left all quantities as described to me: stealing the recipe and then messing with it would be a step too far.

Ingredients

6 spring onions, trimmed
1 onion, peeled
2 scotch bonnet chillies 
10g fresh thyme leaves
Oil, for frying
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg 
1 clove garlic, peeled
2.5cm piece root ginger, peeled
1 tbsp ground allspice
50g brown sugar
80g cider vinegar
80g worcestershire sauce
75ml soy sauce
100ml pineapple juice
450ml tomato ketchup
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Jerk Pork

Method

Chop the spring onions, onion, chilli and thyme, then sweat in a little oil on a medium heat. Add all the other ingredients and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool, then blitz smooth. The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.
The thing that makes jerk "jerk" is the scotch bonnet chilli and pimento – you can add anything else you like, but the scotch bonnet and pimento are absolute musts. Start this in the oven, slow-cook for a few hours, then finish on the barbecue for that smoky flavour. Serves four to six.

Ingredients
2 scotch bonnet chilli
5g allspice (plus extra for throwing on the coals)
2g black pepper
1 spring onion
1 clove garlic, peeled
10g fresh chopped ginger
1kg pork shoulder
100g lemon juice
75ml cider (optional)
100ml water
1 handful wood chips (I favour applewood)

Method

A day ahead, put the chilli, spices, spring onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor and blend to a coarse paste. Rub the shoulder all over with lemon juice – once upon a time, this was for hygiene purposes, but nowadays it is as much for flavour. Leave for 10 minutes, then dry with kitchen towel and rub the spice mix all over the meat. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Put the shoulder in an oven tray, roast for 20 minutes, then pour the cider and water into the tray and cover with foil. Turn down the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2 and roast for two hours, basting the meat with the liquid in the tray every 40 minutes or so.
Now it's time to smoke the roast pork over the dying embers of the barbecue (or over a very low gas). Throw a handful of wood chips and a few allspice berries on the coals, lay the pork on the grill, shut the lid and leave for 15-20 minutes.
Shred the meat with two forks – it will fall apart easily – and serve with some jerk sauce.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind
1 comment
Read more

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak
1 comment
Read more