Jamaican brown stew chicken is a sweet, tangy, sticky caribbean chicken recipe that is made all the time in Jamaican homes. I had always wanted to learn how to make this dish so I sweetened up my uncle to teach me.  It was so easy, I find that I make it for my family all the time.  The best thing when making this recipe is to soak the chicken overnight in a chinese mushroom soy sauce, this will give the chicken time to saturate itself with all the flavor.  Some people like to add tomatoes and potatoes to the mix, but I opt for those out and just have the chicken and spinners, which are little boiled dumplings.

Like I mentioned before this chicken takes absolutely no time to make, just serve it with rice, plantains, or hard bread.  If chicken is on the menu for dinner tonight take a chance and make this chicken recipe, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Brown Stew Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 lb whole chicken, chopped up
• 3 tablespoons mushroom soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks green onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups water

Directions

I always ask my butcher to chop up a whole chicken, in small pieces, or aka curry style… All butchers know what that means. Wash and clean your chicken.  Chop a lemon and squeeze on chicken to clean.

Season the chicken with garlic powder, black pepper, garlic powder, chopped garlic, chopped green onions, and soy sauce.

Place in refrigerator overnight.

I haven’t been able to find this sauce anywhere in Orlando, but was fortunate enough that my Uncle brought me a bottle.

If you do not plan on cooking chicken the following day then just place in airtight ziploc bag and place in the freezer.  I always do this along with curry chicken so when I need it it’s there.

In a large rimmed skillet heat oil on medium high heat.  Start frying the chicken in batches.  Do not discard the marinade form the night before.  We will use it at the end again.

Flip the chicken pieces so that all sides are cooked.

Once the first batch is finished browning, remove the chicken and place into a dutch pot.  By removing the first batch of browned chicken and placing it in the dutch pot, all of the juices will start to run out of the chicken, which will be used to make the yummy gravy.

Continue browning the remaining chicken pieces and placing them into the dutch pot to drain.

Once all the chicken is cooked change spots on the stove top.  Add the left over marinade of the chicken from the night before along with 2 cups of water.  Allow the chicken to boil for 15 minutes.

Once you see the chicken almost finished cooking, add a little salt, sugar, and ketchup.  Cover and let simmer.

It’s spinners time… love these.

• ½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons water

Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl and stir until you have a stiff, smooth dough. Roll the pieces into cylinders, drop them into the simmering stew and boil.

Serve with rice, plantains, and veggies.

Enjoy!

I love my heritage.

I love where I come from.

Even though I wasn’t born in Jamaica I grew up there and feel a very strong connection to my mother’s home land.  My family used to spend Christmases in Jamaica and every morning when we would wake up the kitchen would be smelling so delicious. My cousin and I would race to see who could snag a fried dumpling first.  Now you know yours truly would always find a way to win, hehehe. There would be a big ol’ pot of ackee and saltfish simmering and plantains, bammy, fried breadfruit, and dumplings frying.

Oh gosh so many memories!

No one could make Ackee and Saltfish like my grandmama….  That’s why I knew it had to be one of the many dishes I had to conquer when I grew up.  I made this Jamaican national dish Christmas morning for my family so we could eat while opening presents, and let me just say, Christmas blessed our house with not only being surrounded by family but also some wonderful goodies as well.  See for yourself…

Grandma I hope this recipe makes you proud!

Directions:

Start off by placing your saltfish in a pot covered with water overnight to sit.  This will help get rid of most of its saltiness.  Once you wake up the following, morning now your ready to go.  Empty out the sitting water and wash off the saltfish.  Then add more water submerging the saltfish inside.  Place on medium heat and boil until saltfish becomes soft and/ or 20 minutes.

Remove the fish from the water and allow to cool.  Then remove all of the bones and skin, then flake the flesh of the fish.  Put the flaked fish aside and start with the sauteeing.

Now gather tomatoes, onions, garlic, scallion, and lots and lots of thyme.

Slice the yellow onions.  I happen to like a lot of onions in my ackee and saltfish.  Some don’t though.  you decide on how much you like to slice.

Dice the tomatoes.  These juicy tomatoes add such flavor to the dish.  I usually chop 3-4 medium sized tomatoes.

Next chop up garlic and lots and lots of thyme.  Make sure puling of the leaves from the thyme stems.  you can add a few of the entire thyme stems while cooking.

If your brave you can always add a little heat with scotch bonnet.  All you need to do is slice up the scotch bonnet thinly and add it to the pot.

I have been known to have a heavy hand when it comes to heat in dishes… well so I’ve been told!  I have an iron mouth

In a large dutch pot, or frying pan, melt butter on medium heat and dump all of your chopped ingredients inside.  You want to stir-fry all of the ingredients together for 10 minutes.

Next add the flaked saltfish.  Add black pepper and salt if needed.  At this point you will need o add more vegetable oil to the pot.  The saltfish will soak up all that is in there and will turn dry if oil is not added. I always end up needing to add more throughout the cooking process.

** Caution** this dish is an oily dish. So just beware, you do not want it to be dry, hence all of the oil inside.

See definitely needed…. mix it altogether and allow it to come together.

It’s ackee time now… yummmmmmm!

If you are unfortunate to not have your own ackee tree growing in your backyard, like me, then you are subjected to have to purchase a can from one of your fellow specialty markets.

Add the ackee to the pot.

Stir gently to avoid breaking-up the Ackee.  You don’t want it to turn into mush.

Add more black pepper ontop and thyme and if you really want to be naughty you can add some chopped bacon on top.

Serve with boiled dumplings, fried dumplings, bammy, plantains, and fried breadfruit.

Enjoy!

Ackee and Saltfish

1/2 lb Saltfish (dried, salted codfish)

12 fresh ackees or 1 (drained) can of tinned ackees

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

3-4 medium sized tomatoes, chopped

4 scallion, chopped

3 tablespoons of butter

1/2 Scotch Bonnet pepper

Salt/ black pepper

Fresh thyme sprigs

Optional:

6 Slices of bacon, cooked and diced

Start off by placing your saltfish in a pot covered with water overnight to sit.  This will help get rid of most of its saltiness.  Once you wake up the following, morning now your ready to go.  Empty out the sitting water and wash off the saltfish.  Then add more water submerging the saltfish inside.  Place on medium heat and boil until saltfish becomes soft and/ or 20 minutes.

Remove the fish from the water and allow to cool.  Then remove all of the bones and skin, then flake the flesh of the fish.  Put the flaked fish aside and start with the sauteeing.

Now gather tomatoes, onions, garlic, scallion, and lots and lots of thyme.

Slice the yellow onions.  I happen to like a lot of onions in my ackee and saltfish.  Some don’t though.  you decide on how much you like to slice.

Dice the tomatoes.  These juicy tomatoes add such flavor to the dish.  I usually chop 3-4 medium sized tomatoes.

Next chop up garlic and lots and lots of thyme.  Make sure puling of the leaves from the thyme stems.  you can add a few of the entire thyme stems while cooking.

If your brave you can always add a little heat with scotch bonnet.  All you need to do is slice up the scotch bonnet thinly and add it to the pot.

In a large dutch pot, or frying pan, melt butter on medium heat and dump all of your chopped ingredients inside.  You want to stir-fry all of the ingredients together for 10 minutes.

Next add the flaked saltfish.  Add black pepper and salt if needed.  At this point you will need o add more vegetable oil to the pot.  The saltfish will soak up all that is in there and will turn dry if oil is not added. I always end up needing to add more throughout the cooking process.

** Caution** this dish is an oily dish. So just beware, you do not want it to be dry, hence all of the oil inside.

Add the ackee to the pot.  Stir gently to avoid breaking-up the Ackee.  You don’t want it to turn into mush.

Add more black pepper ontop and thyme and if you really want to be naughty you can add some chopped bacon on top.

Serve with boiled dumplings, fried dumplings, bammy, plantains, and fried breadfruit.

Enjoy!

Saltfish is just that, salted, dried fish, usually cod fish.  Saltfish is an integral ingredient in Jamaica’s national dish, Ackee and Saltfish.  You can find this salted fish in Caribbean, Italian and Asian markets. Choose pieces with white flesh, rather than yellow, with the skin still attached.

Saltfish should store, wrapped airtight, in a cool, dark place indefinitely.  Before using, soak for 12 to 24 hours, changing the water every 4 to 5 hours. The soaking softens the flesh and each water change reduces the salt. Drain the last batch of soaking water and pour boiling water over the saltfish; cover and allow to soak for about 15 minutes, or until the flesh is soft.

Then enjoy it in ackee or calaloo.

(Image: Kaiton/Flickr)

“Mommy what’s that?”

“It’s ackee kk…”

“Mommy what’s ackee?”

These were the little questions my 4 1/2 year old daughter, asked me the morning I made Ackee and Saltfish for Christmas Day breakfast.

Ackee is a red pear-shaped tropical fruit that contains poisonous seeds inside.  No joke, the flesh of the ackee can be poisonous if it is unripe or overripe or cooked wrong.  The only edible part of this plant is the ripe, yellow fruit. It is ripe when the pod opens showing its beautiful yellow flesh.

Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica hence it being the country’s national dish, in Ackee and Saltfish.  Even though ackee is regarded as a fruit, Jamaicans often consider it to be a kind of meat that can be served with a staple or carbohydrate.  Due to its popularity, ackee can be found packaged in a can and found in specialty stores.  If you purchase the ackee from a can, make sure you get it from a reliable source. Make sure to always drain the ackee from the can water and rinse. Boil it in fresh water and rinse again. Then you can add it in your dish of choice.  Just beware that canned ackee can be expensive to buy, ranging from $12-$15 a 14 ounce can.

Have you ever tried ackee before?

• One of Jamaica’s finest treasures, Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

• This yummy, delicious, ooeeyyy gooeeyyyy not any kind of milk… Condensed Milk.

• Have you tried Hard dough bread, if not your missing out.

• Twitter + Wine = Twine, and all for a good cause!

• The Food Network is getting a little sister, called the Cooking Channel.

Hardo Bread or Hard Dough Bread is absolutely positively DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!

If you have never had hardo bread then, YES you are deprived… (Just kidding)

But seriously… you need to try some STAT!

Hardo bread is a staple food item that can be found in EVERY Jamaican household, whether in another state or country.  Hardo bread consists of flour, water, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Hard dough bread loaves are usually rectangular shaped and can be bought already sliced or unsliced.  The inner part of the bread is white, moist and so soft… the taste is sweet as can be. The outer layer of the bread is light brown and called the crust.

Just imagine coming home from school and the smell of fresh hardo bread wafting the air…. there is absolutely nothing better.

You can find hardo bread at most Jamaican or Caribbean stores… I know in certain Publix’s in Miami you can find them.  I always try and buy some at the Publix by my parents house.

A perfect snack during the day is hardo bread and guava jelly spread on top…. or as a side with some pan Jerk chicken….. OH MY GOODNESS……… Sooooooo GOOD!

If your brave enough and would love to try and make this Jamaican staple please do.

But just make sure to let me know how it comes out below…

Hardough Bread

(From Jamaicans.com)

NGREDIENTS :

• 6 cups bread f lour
• 1 pack yeast (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pt warm water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 ozs shortening
• Milk or egg white for glazing

METHOD:

1. Pour flour in warm bowl.
2. Add shortening to flour & cut in with knife.
3. Add yeast, sugar, and salt
4. Add warm water
5. Knead until soft and roll out
6. Put in a warm place to rise approx. twice in size.
7. Glaze with milk or egg white.
8. Bake at 350F until done.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is not only the best coffee in my opinion, but the tastiest.

It is grown in blue mountains of Jamaica, hence the name, between Kingston to the south and Port Maria to the north.  The blue mountains are some of the highest mountains in the caribbean rising up to 2,300 metres (7,500 ft).  Due to the combination of rich soil and the cool, misty climate, these mountains make it the ideal place for coffee to be grown.

This coffee is my favorite due to its mild and wonderful flavor.  You know how some coffee has a bitter after taste this one doesn’t. Especially when combined with condensed milk nothing is more sublime.

Aahhhhhhhhhhh (BIG SIGH)!

The perfect way to wake up in the morning if you ask me!