Jerk roast chicken stuffed with cheesy mushrooms..with penne arrabiata

Sunday morning, I rushed to the supermarket (spar) where I make my decisions with regard to cooking, and sometimes other aspects of my life. I love supermarkets! I was in the herbs and spices isle when I came across some new merchandise. Caribbean seasoning and Jerk chicken seasoning. Constant battle in my mind as to which one to choose. I picked up both. I don't like fights, not even in my head.

Boneless pieces of chicken, Some celery, onions and I was good to go. On my way back, I made a stop at a local vegetable mart. I hadn't seen such fresh plump tomatoes in a while and the timing was just right for me to pick some up. By then I knew what I wanted to cook. I had the rest of the ingredients at home.

Ingredients for (my) arrabiata sauce:

3 medium tomatoes chopped

1 medium onion chopped

2 tsp tomato puree

1 tsp sugar

4 cloves of garlic chopped

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp jerk seasoning

salt and pepper for seasoning

Method:

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the chopped garlic. Saute till it releases its flavours and aroma. Don't let it burn. Tip in the onions and saute till it turns transparent. Now the tomatoes go in. Add the tomato puree. Put the lid on and let this cook for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it not to let it burn. Need be add a little extra oil. Add the sugar. Now let this cool and get to room temperature. Churn it into a puree consistency using your hand blender. Your sauce is ready. That's how easy it is.

Ingredients for Jerk roasted chicken stuffed with cheesy mushrooms:

1 chicken breast boneless and skinless

2 big cloves of garlic chopped

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1 tbsp Jamaican seasoning

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper for seasoning

1 cup chopped and cooked mushrooms

1 tbsp shredded cheese

Method:

Marinate the chicken with the oil, lemon juice and grated zest(skin of the lemon), garlic, salt, pepper and the Jamaican seasoning. Now slice the chicken breast horizontally all through just leaving about an inch in the end. Pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Now flip the chicken open and place mushrooms and the cheese. Close it. Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan preferably non-stick. Heat about 2 tbsp olive oil. Place the chicken and cover the pan. Sprinkle some of the Jamaican seasoning again if you like. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Check for a nice roasted look on the chicken and then flip it to let the other side roast. Again for 2-3 minutes. Surprisingly quick, I know! Me thinks it's the heavy bottom pan. Otherwise the chicken would burn or not cook through out. Give it a try anyways.

So now get it out and serve it as you like it. What I did was, lay it on a bed of pasta and the arrabiatta sauce and garnished it with some celery leaves. Tadaaa!

Inspired by some...Jerk Chicken :)
Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meats are dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning is traditionally applied to pork and chicken. Modern recipes also apply jerk spice mixes to fish, shrimp, shellfish, beef, sausage, and tofu. Jerk seasoning principally relies upon two items: allspice (called "pimento" in Jamaica) and Scotch bonnet peppers (among the hottest peppers on the Scoville scale). Other ingredients include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_jerk_spice
Thanks to the Lonely Planet,I read about 'jerk chicken'; before I went through the recipe as usual, I wanted to make my own quick one with the very limited ingredients at my disposal. My palate signaled that this should have a perfect combination of sweet and red chilli spice taste.
Ingredients:
Clean chicken breast piece, 2 teaspoons of lemoneez, 2 tablespoons of honey, chilli flakes, 3 cloves of garlic, nutmeg, butter and salt and pepper per tatse.
potatoes, cheese, pepper and choice of vegetables.
Process:
I usually prefer marinating the defrosted chicken in some white fruit vineger and salt for about 30 mins. Keep aside.
My choice of veggies include carrots, cauliflower, some brocolli and green peas. Boil them sufficiently, strain and keep aside. If you wish, you could very lightly fry these little chuncks of veggies in a very small dollop of butter for that perfect crunchy yet boiled tatse.
Now in a non stick pan, add a generous dollop of butter and let it redden. Add the chopped garlic and let it fry till they turn golden (take in the aroma!). Add a spoonful scrapped bits of nutmeg to it. Place the ckicken breasts gently on the pan and lid it. Keep switchin sides and and cover it back. At this rate in about 15 mins the chicken should be pretty much cooked, now add the the lemoneez to the chicken and just in a while add the honey to it. Sprinkle the chilli flakes, pour a small cup of water and lid up the chicken for about 6-7 mins (keep switching sides of the chicken for a perfectly cooked piece; you could poke the chicken with a fork to test).
Mash the perfectly peeled and boiled potatoes with a spoon and a add cube of cheese to the portion. Sprinkle a little pepper and salt according to your taste. For a different flavour altogether, you could place a serving of mashed potato in the foil and grate cheese on it, and put it in the oven for about 8 mins. Unwrap and enjoy.
Garnishing:
Now when you are in a hurry to eat, there no much place for a lot of garnishing. Minimalism and easy arrangement serves the purpose. Place the crunchy veggies and mashed potatoes next to the chicken. If you wish, you could add a small amount of baked beans. I also placed two twigs of wheat grass on the chicken...just got inspired by some presentation I saw in the magazine.

Bon Apetite!