A Jamaican Nite with friends and honoring Bob Marley’s birthday

Ever since our trip to Jamaica exactly a year ago, I must have cooked Jamaican cuisine at least half a dozen times in my own kitchen. What’s not to love about Jamaican food eh? I recall vividly how we were in the home of one of the locals there, learning the right way to prepare curried goat and brown stew chicken.  I had not heard of the latter, but it too is a pretty popular dish in Jamaica, right there with jerk chicken, peas and rice, oxtail, etc.  It so happened that we had invited a few of our musician friends for dinner last weekend and a few days before, it was Bob Marley’s birthday, so a light bulb went on and I thought (how about a Jamaican menu celebrating this reggae icon’s birthday).  Did you know that Bob Marley spent a few years of his life right here in Wilmington, Delaware?  There’s an annual Peoples Festival honoring his life and legacy every summer which we try to attend.

An aromatic blend of spices is marinated with the chicken overnight, the chicken then browned, and slowly simmered in a fragrant sauce.  The pictures above show the prep work for the chicken as it marinates overnight.  Getting the plantains ready too for pan frying.  Best have a sous chef on hand for this delicious Jamaican meal, my trusty husband is always willing to oblige 🙂

Browning the chicken is an important step before adding it to the sauce.  When browning, make sure you leave the marinated veggies in the container, you do not want to brown them with the chicken pieces.

I added red and green peppers and additional scallions to the veggies when sauteing them.  We typically do not eat “hot and spicy”, so adjust the recipe according to your taste buds.

I slow cooked the chicken pieces for about an hour and a half rendering the brown gravy thick and tasty.

To go with all those scrumptious juices, we must have some rice and peas don’t you think?  Another Jamaican staple.

I sauteed some onion, scallions, garlic, kidney beans, thyme, long grain rice, stock and coconut milk.

There you have it, Brown Stew Chicken, served with Rice and peas in a coconut broth, Cabbage and peppers, Pan Fried Plantains, and for dessert, Cheesecake flan (not really a Jamaican dessert, I know).  Click on Brown Stew Chicken to get full details on the recipe. Did our friends enjoy this Jamaican meal?  You bet they did!  For me, it transported me back to that warm island with friendly people as we listened to reggae sounds during dinner.  Ya mon!

Now for some fun videos with reggae music.  Turn up the volume and dance 🙂