spicy jerk

Juicy and BURSTING with the flavors of Allspice, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Brown Sugar and Scotch Bonnet peppers, these Jerk Pineapple Bites are guaranteed to be a hit with your family and friends. Roasted in the oven or slide them onto a bamboo skewer and grill them off on your BBQ this summer. Your pineapple game will take on a new brilliance.

You’ll Need…

1 large ripe pineapple
2 tablespoon Jerk Marinade
2 tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 lemon

Feel free to make your own Jerk Marinade or use your fav store-bought jar. Be mindful that the ones from the store can be a bit spicy (read the label).

Peel, Core and Cube the pineapple.

In a bowl, place the jerk marinade, lemon juice, olive oil and sugar. Now give that a good mix and your marinade/dressing is ready.

The jerk marinade I used was out of a bottle I bought at my local grocery and I know it’s very spicy. Be mindful of the spice level in the jerk marinade you use.

Pour the marinade over the cubed pineapple pieces and give it a good mix.

Pre-heat your oven to 500 F. Line your baking tray with foil or as in my case I sprayed on cooking/baking spray to make clean up easier later.

Pour the seasoned pineapple pieces onto the tray and make sure there’s space between each piece of pineapple.

Onto the middle rack of your oven.

20-25 minutes (depending on how large you cubed the pineapple) later and you’re done. It will take on some color on the edges.

Serve warm on it’s own or as a side to your fav ice cream. Excellent on pancakes and waffles too!

If you’ve ever seen people go crazy for the grilled pineapple at Brazilian Steakhouse Restaurants, you can guess how tasty grilled pineapple can be. Add the wonderful flavors of the Jerk marinade and you’re on another level of tasty. The sweet juicy flavors complement the slight heat of the jerk marinade. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Outstanding Oven Jerk Pork.

May 27, 2025June 10, 20196 Comments

There’s a special place in my belly for jerk pork (no lie). While I much prefer it made over a coals fire so you get lovely smoked sort of finish, which really compliments the herbs and other ingredients in the classic Jamaican jerk marinade. The said… reality in Canada is it can get VERY cold during the winter months, so realistically I had to come up with a recipe with will duplicate those same flavors, but in an everyday kitchen oven. Here is such a recipe.

You’ll Need…

5-8 lbs Pork ( a cheap cut – fatty)

For the marinade…

3 tables spoon olive oil
1 lemon (juice)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 large onion
4 scallions
10 sprigs thyme
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
15 pimento berries (all spice)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2-3 scotch bonnet peppers
2 tablespoon honey (or brown sugar)
2 tablespoon Honey Vinegar (optional)
thumb size piece ginger
5 cloves garlic
2-3 shallots

For dressing the roasting pan (optional)
+ thyme 5-8 sprigs
+ scallions 3
+ Orange juice 1 cup

Important! If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the soy sauce, which will have to be substituted for a gluten free type like Tamari.

Basically all you’re doing to start, is to create the marinade. Give all the ingredients a rough chop (where needed), then into a food processor or blender. You have 2 options A smooth marinade or a somewhat chunky one. I prefer chunky, so I pulsed the ingredients until it was at the texture and consistency I like.

The next step is to (well what I did). The piece of pork I used was from the leg or shoulder area (round piece of meat), so I butterfly it and made some deep cuts at the same time, to allow the marinade to really penetrate the meat and infuse this wonderful jerk favor from deep (watch the video below). Please try your best to use a fatty or marbled piece of pork. Not only will it be a cheaper cut, that fat will render and keep the meat really moist. Place the pork in a strong (big) zipper bag and pour the marinade over it.. massage and place in the fridge overnight for maximum flavor. Place the bag on a plate in case the bag leaks and if you remember, try to flip it a couple times during the marination process.

The next day.. pre-heat your oven to 375F and allow your pork to come up to room temperature (outside the fridge). Then place it in a heavy roasting pan and add the other ingredients mention in the list above. I pour the orange juice in the same bag we marinated the pork and moved it around to pick up any remaining marinade. Then onto the piece of pork in the roasting pan (I used a shallow side dutch oven).

Now into the 375 F oven on the middle rack. No I didn’t cover the roasting pan. After 30 minutes of so, I took it out of the oven and used the juices on the side to baste it a bit, then back into the oven. I believe I did this about 5-7 times during the roasting process.

It took about 3 hours in total to fully cook to my liking. At that point I took it out of the oven, tented it with some foil and allowed it to rest for about 15 minutes before slicing it up. Keep in mind that if you use a piece of pork with a bone running though the middle like I did.. be mindful when slicing. Also note that the scotch bonnet peppers will make this very spicy (don’t use the seeds if you want to tame it down a bit) and to wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling such HOT peppers.

Save the pan drippings to pour over the sliced jerk pork, especially if you’ll be making sandwiches with the meat. That low and slow heat will certainly develop similar flavors to having made this over a coals fire.. so no big deal when it’s – 30 C outside during the winter months in Canada. Chris will still get his Jerk Pork fix!

Do you own a copy of my cookbook ?- The Vibrant Caribbean Pot 100 Traditional And Fusion recipes Vol 2

Gluten Free Meat & Poultry

Succulent Jerk Rotisserie Chicken.

May 27, 2025November 7, 2018Leave a Comment

This past summer during our annual July Month Of Grilling, I shared this awesome recipe for what I believe is best way to roast a chicken on the grill. The self-basting achieved by having the chicken on a rotisserie, means you’d never have a dry and cardboard-like chicken. And your taste-buds will be excited by the punch the jerk marinade brings to the table. Tender, juicy and that awesome spice kick, means your family and guests will be asking for this jerk chicken for years to come.

You’ll Need…

2 whole chicken (about 2.5-3 lbs e)
2 scallions
5 sprigs thyme
1 scotch bonnet pepper
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon cane sugar (or brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon allspice (pimento powder)
3 slices ginger
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 lime leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon parsley

For the grill…
– 5 sprigs thyme
– 4-5 cloves garlic
– lime leaves
– water
– 10-15 pimento (allspice) berries

Note! If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the Soy Sauce. You’ll notice that I used fish sauce and lime leaves.. that’s just my lil personal touch. Feel free to leave those out if you wish.

Clean, trim and prep the chicken. Then make the marinade with all the ingredients mentioned above (not the stuff for the grill). You may want to give everything a rough chop to make it easier for your blender or food processor to make the puree. You can make this as liquid or chunky as you want.

Remember to wear gloves when handling the scotch bonnet and if you use your hands to rub the marinade onto the chicken. Additionally you can add more hot peppers if you want, and if you want to control the heat level a bit remove the seeds from the scotch bonnet. Paste the marinade all over (and inside) the chicken and allow to marinate for a couple hours (overnight will be best for max flavor).

Watch the video below to follow along. Basically you need to set the chicken onto your rotisserie, then onto your grill. But try your best to have a low heat under the chicken and the main heat to the side (somewhat like indirect heat grilling). Place a pan under the chicken with the ingredients mentioned above. This will not only help flavor the chicken as they grill, it will help to prevent flare-ups from the fat dripping onto the flame source. Be sure to add more liquid as it dries up. You may want to secure the chicken with some kitchen string to make sure they are compact and evenly spaced above the heat source. A hanging leg or wing will cook much faster and may want to burn. As the birds roast they will self baste (dripping fat and it renders out), so don’t worry too much about that.

After about an hour or so you may need to add a bit of water back to the pan.

With the lid closed on the grill and depending on the size of your chicken it will take about 2 hours and 20 minutes or so to cook all the way through. I had the heat between 275-300 F in the event you’re wondering.

Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before you carve these birds.. I know it will be tempting to not do so, but trust me. Additionally, be prepared for your neighbors inviting themselves over when they get a whiff of this jerk chicken. As always it was a pleasure sharing this taste of the Caribbean with you.

Do you own a copy of my cookbook ?- The Vibrant Caribbean Pot 100 Traditional And Fusion recipes Vol 2

Gluten Free Meat & Poultry

Gluten Free Jerk Marinade (for Chicken, Pork, Shrimp and Fish)

May 27, 2025July 28, 2015Leave a Comment

Over the years I’ve shared countless recipes for making jerk marinades, sauces, how to make finger-licking Jamaican jerk in the oven and classic jerk on your grill and bbq. As we continue our annual July Month Of Grilling I thought I’d shift focus and share a gluten friendly version of a classic Jamaican jerk marinade for our friends who deal with gluten intolerance. A jerk marinade which goes well with fish, shrimp, pork and in this case, some chicken legs which we’ll marinate before slowly cooking them over a moderate coals-fire in the back yard.

You’ll Need…

8 lbs chicken legs.

For the gluten free jerk marinade…

4 scallions
1 orange (juice)
1 lime (juice)
1/2 cup vinegar (white)
8-10 sprigs thyme
2 scotch bonnet peppers
4 slices ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8-12 pimento berries (allspice)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic

NOTE: It’s important that you go through the entire list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs – especially the Soy Sauce.

You’ll need a food processor or blender for making this marinade… or some knife skills as you’ll need to finely chop everything. Remember when handling scotch bonnet peppers to wear gloves and to wash your hands immediately after with soap and water. The “raw” heat will be in the seeds and white membrane surrounding the seeds, so trim and discard that area if your worried about such heat. Give everything a rough chop and place it in the food processor (or blender).

Here you have two options, you can puree until smooth, or do as I like – pulse so you get a sort of chunky consistency. You can now pour this over your desired protein or store it in a the fridge until you’re ready to use it. It will remain good for up to a week. The vinegar will act as a natural preservative.

In my case I was doing chicken legs with it, so I trimmed off all the fat and excess skin. You can remove the skin, but I like leaving the skin as it adds flavor as it cook and renders and it also helps to form a protective barrier as the chicken cooks so it does not go dry. I also like piercing the thick parts of the chicken so the marinade gets into the meat and really infuse it with maximum niceness. Pour in the marinade and massage the chicken pieces. Allow to marinate for at least 2 hrs in the fridge – overnight would be ideal. Then get ready to grill as you would normally.

I had a relatively hot fire going, so I placed the chicken pieces away from the direct heat (indirect grilling), lid on and allowed it to go until it was cooked to my likeness (about 50 mins to 1 hr). I used the remaining marinade in the bowl to baste it the first 30 minutes or so – remember raw chicken was in the bowl, so try to cook off the marinade. Flip the chicken pieces every 10 minutes or so and rotate around the grilling surface so you grill them evenly.

The final 5 minutes is when you can place the chicken pieces over the direct heat to allow for that sort of caramelized color you want to achieve – that comes from the heat and cooked sugars in the marinade. Remember if you put the chicken pieces too early over the direct heat, those same sugars will char or burn the outside of the chicken and the inside will be raw.

If you want, you can double the marinade recipe and reserve 1/2. That remaining 1/2 add a bit of honey, orange juice or apple and cook/reduce for a wicked sauce to serve with the cooked pieces of jerk chicken.

I like squeezing on some fresh lime juice as soon as I take it off the grill for that little blast of citrus, which I think awakens the jerk chicken even more. just my take though!

Juicy Jerk Pineapple Bites.

Outstanding Oven Jerk Pork.

Succulent Jerk Rotisserie Chicken.

Gluten Free Jerk Marinade (for Chicken, Pork, Shrimp and Fish)

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