Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken with Rice and Peas

This is one of my favorite Jamaican meals. Normally, this is made in a stew pot and the chicken cut up and browned in a frying pan. I thought it would be easier if I made this in my crockpot. I love throwing a whole chicken minus the gibblets into the crockpot with some aromatic vegetables like celery, onions and carrots and some seasoning. The chicken becomes so tender this way that you won't need a knife to carve the chicken because the meat falls off the bones.


Another staple in Jamaican cuisine is Rice and Peas, which is really rice with kidney beans. I like to use brown rice in all of my rice dishes. This particular dish uses coconut milk, which is simply, fresh coconut steeped in hot water. I have never made my own coconut milk because it's more cost effective to buy it out of a can. Plenty of Caribbean dishes use coconut milk as well as cilantro. A quick observation, Thai food also utilizes the same ingredients.


Ingredients

•  1 whole chicken (about 3lb)
•  A splash of lime juice
•  1 teaspoon of salt
•  1 teaspoon of pepper
•  1 onion, chopped
•  3 stalks of scallion, chopped
•  1 hot pepper (ideally scotch bonnet), seeded and chopped
•  1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
•  3 cloves of garlic, minced
•  1/2 inch of ginger, minced
•  3 tomatoes, chopped
•  Oil for frying
•  3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 3 teaspoons of dried thyme)
•  2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Instructions

1. Wash the chicken with lime juice and rinse.
2. Chop the chicken into small pieces or you can leave whole
3. In a bowl, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the onion, scallion, hot pepper, sweet pepper, garlic, and ginger. Marinate for at least an hour to overnight.
4. Scrape off the onions, scallions, hot pepper, sweet pepper, garlic and ginger from the chicken and save the vegetables. In a large pan, working in batches, brown the chicken on all sides. 
5. Once the chicken is browned, add the chicken to your crock pot along with the reserved marinade. Pour in the soy sauce and set the crock pot for low heat.
6. I like to cook this slowly for about 6-8 hours. Which is why it's best to do right before you head out to work.
7. The chicken will release a lot of juice because it's cooking so slow. If you're home, it's good to spoon some of those juices on top of the chicken so the top doesn't get dry. 
8. When done, you should be able to scoop out a spoonful of the chicken. Plate it over the rice and peas. Serve with a simple side salad of lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, and tomatoes. I like to mix up my salad dressing by using lemon juice instead of vinegar.