Jerk Roast Chicken, Seasoned Roasties & Gravy
Spice up the festive season with this delicious roast chicken flavoured with our Caribbean Creations Ultimate Jamaican Jerk Paste. The spiced gravy is the perfect accompaniment and delicious served with our seasoned roasties and rice and peas. This also works well with turkey if you want to jazz up your Christmas dinner – just adjust the cooking times accordingly.
Traditional roasties – crispy, fluffy in the middle and perfectly seasoned with our Caribbean Creations All Purpose Seasoning* for a hint of flavour from the sunshine islands.
Method
In a food processor blend together the spring onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, half the thyme, juice and zest of ½ the orange and the seasoning until smooth. Stir in the Jerk Paste.
Carefully loosen the skin of the chicken breast and gently push about a tablespoon of the mixture right up under the skin. Rub the paste into the cavity of the chicken, and all over the chicken skin. Put the chicken into a roasting tray, cover and leave to marinate for 2 hours (or even better – chill to marinate overnight if you have the time).
Preheat the oven to 200C/180Cfan/Gas 6
Remove some of the excess marinade and drizzle with 1-2 tbsp melted butter or oil. Place the remaining orange half and thyme sprigs in the chicken cavity. If needed, tie the drumsticks together with butcher’s twine/kitchen string.
Cover the chicken loosely with foil and cook in the oven for 1 hour 45 minutes (or according to the size of your chicken/turkey), basting and removing the foil for the final half an hour. The chicken is cooked when the juices from the thigh run clear when pierced.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-20 minutes before carving (longer for turkey).
To make the gravy, skim off any oil from the surface of the cooking juices in the tray and place the roasting tin over a medium heat. Pour in the wine and boil until reduced by half, scraping the base of the tin with a wooden spoon to release all of the caramelised juices. Stir in the flour, then the chicken stock and boil once more until the gravy has reduced and is well flavoured. Squeeze in orange to taste and check for seasoning. Remove from the heat and pour the gravy through a sieve to discard any solids.
Serve the carved chicken and seasoned roasties with your favourite veg and the gravy. Try with our Pan-Fried Sweet & Spicy Sprouts and/or Ainsley Rice and Peas*
For the Roasties
Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6.
Put the potatoes in a large saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 6-7 minutes.
Put the fat into a large roasting tray and put in the oven to heat up.
Drain the potatoes and give them a good shake in the colander to rough up the potato edges. Leave to steam dry for 4-6 minutes. Sprinkle with all-purpose seasoning and add the potatoes, garlic and thyme to the roasting tray. Carefully coat in the hot oil and spread out into a single layer. Roast for 40-50 minutes, turning twice, until golden and crisp. Season with sea salt flakes before serving.
Ingredients
- For the Jerk Roast Chicken
- 1 x 1.9kg chicken, patted dry
- 3 spring onions, chopped
- 4cm root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- large handful of fresh coriander
- 4-6 sprigs of thyme
- 1 x sachet of Ainsley Ultimate Jamaican Jerk Paste*
- 1 orange
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- melted butter or oil, for drizzling
- For the Gravy
- 60ml dry white wine
- 1 ½ tbsp plain flour
- 300-350 ml of chicken stock
- ½ orange, for squeezing
- For the Seasoned Roasties
- 1.5kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
- olive oil/sunflower oil/goose fat (enough to have a thin coating in the bottom of your tray)
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled, left whole and bashed
- 2 tsp Ainsley All Purpose Seasoning
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- sea salt flakes