Jerk Chicken

I was in the mood for something spicy last night and decided a quick trip to the Caribbean was in order. I normally make my own jerk chicken using simply jerk spices and chicken, but I was too lazy to do so I picked up a pre-seasoned chicken pack from Publix. 

chopped up leg quarters with onions and green peppers, seasoned with jerk spices

If you ever need quick meal ideas, Publix has ready-to-cook meals in the freezer/meat section. As a working mom, this comes in handy when you need to get dinner on the table quick. Anyway, I whipped up this dish in an hour using my handy-dandy cast iron skillet. My Instagram hits last night when I posted the final results were ridiculous!

Heat your cast iron skillet (or dutch oven) over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Add your chicken and veggies in. Stir continuously and allow to cook for 7-9 minutes.

You want to make sure you brown the outside of the meat.

Once the meat has been browned, add one cup of water to skillet. You can add half water and have water and flour if you want it thicker. 

Look at it cooking up!

Cover the skillet (or dutch oven) and cook on low for 55-60 minutes.

I let mine cook for 55 minutes until the chicken was done and then removed the cover so that the water could cook down more

Once the water is almost out, turn the stove off and allow it to "rest" for 10 minutes before serving. Doesn't it look good?

Serve over rice and add a bit more spicy to kick it it up a notch. 

Tips:

• If you are using your own jerk spices, rub the chicken with olive oil before rubbing it with jerk seasoning. Let it sit overnight so that flavor is absorbed well. 
• Chicken quarters work best because you can cut it up into pieces, but using other parts of the chicken are good too.