Jerk Chicken Drumsticks

It’s Friday! Friday! Fri-daaaaaaaaaay!

What are you up to this weekend? I am teaching a yoga class this afternoon then cooking dinner for some friends. Tomorrow, Adam and I are going to do some wine tasting before having dinner at a friend’s house {this same friend is throwing me a bridal shower in March — I can’t wait!}. Sunday we have church and I’m hoping to get outside for a hike, too, because the weather has just been so beautiful here lately. Cool, crisp sunny days all around. I can’t complain especially because I’m headed to the arctic next week {aka Wisconsin} and will be wearing every single piece of clothing I own to stay warm. It should be a pretty low-key weekend…the kind I love because its filled with the people I love.

I made this jerk chicken the other day after cleaning out my desk drawer and coming across a rather tattered piece of notebook paper with the recipe scribbled across. It’s my friend from culinary school, Cathy’s, recipe and I remember copying it down hastily after tasting her delicious dinner one evening before class. Cathy is Jamaican and knows her jerk chicken. I can’t believe I’m just now finding this recipe after almost five years!

To make this dish, you practically need your entire spice cabinet. Seriously. There’s a lot going on in this marinade including a whole scotch bonnet pepper {or serrano or habanero} and an onion.

But don’t worry — it’s not ALL spicy! There’s also some brown sugar and lime juice thrown in. I don’t know about you, but I love the combination of meat + brown sugar! Major yum.

The drumsticks need about a four hour chill-out session in the fridge, so plan accordingly! This particular recipe isn’t overly spicy either {I swear} as long as you take the seeds out of the hot pepper before processing it in the marinade. I like to serve my drumsticks over mashed sweet potatoes — this is actually a combination of sweet potato, Japanese sweet potato and russet potato — because I like the combination of the creamy sweet potatoes and the spicy chicken.

The recipe today is over at PBS Food. I hope y’all enjoy it!