In my July/August 2022 Food Network Magazine that I just got was Kwame Onwuachi’s recipe for jerk chicken. Incase you didn’t know Kwame Onwuachi is a James Bead award winning chef and has been a Bravo TV Top Chef contestant. When I saw his recipe I knew it would be good. I can just tell by reading it. You do spend a day brining the chicken and another day marinating the chicken. You finish the chicken with jerk bbq sauce. The chicken was even delicious and flavorful even before the bbq sauce. I made two substitutions. I swapped out bone in skin on chicken for boneless chicken thighs. The other substitution was that I couldn’t find Scotch bonnet peppers so I substituted habanero peppers (they have the same exact heat but aren’t as sweet as Scotch Bonnets). ANYWAYS ….It’s a very good recipe. Delicious, spicy, full of flavors. Makes around eight servings.

Ingredients for around 8 servings

2 Tablespoons kosher salt – brine

1 Tablespoon sugar – brine

1 teaspoon allspice berries – brine

1 Scotch bonnet halved (I substituted an habanero) – brine

1 garlic head halved – brine

1 inch piece of ginger with skin on sliced – brine

2 1/2 pounds skin on chicken quarters legs and thighs (I used boneless skinless thighs….6 of them that weighed around 3 pounds)

1/4 cup soy sauce – marinade

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce – marinade

1 Tablespoon tamarind paste – marinade

2 Tablespoons chopped scallions – marinade

2 Tablespoons fresh thyme – marinade

1 Tablespoon garlic minced – marinade

1 Tablespoon ginger – minced – marinade

1 teaspoon ground allspice – marinade

1 teaspoon dark brown sugar – marinade

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon – marinade

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves – marinade

1 bay leaf – marinade

1 Scotch bonnet – minced (I substituted a habanero) – marinade

pinch salt – marinade

5 Tablespoons reserved jerk marinade paste – jerk bbq sauce

2 Tablespoons canola oil (plus more for grill pan) – jerk bbq sauce

1 onion diced – jerk bbq sauce

3 cloves garlic – minced – jerk bbq sauce

1 1/2 cups ketchup – jerk bbq sauce

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (this I used slightly less) – jerk bbq sauce

Make the brine. Combine 32 ounces of water with the salt, sugar, allspice, scotch bonnet, garlic, ginger Bring to a boil on medium -high heat. Cook around five minutes.Add 1/2 cup of ice and let it cool to room temperature. Add the chicken to the brine and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Make the jerk paste marinade.

Stir together the soy sauce, Worcestershire, tamarind paste, scallions, thyme, garlic, ginger, allspice, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, Scotch bonnet, and salt. REMOVE 5 TABLESPOONS for the bbq sauce.

Remove the chicken from the brine and toss out the brine. Blot the chicken dry.

Toss the chicken in the jerk paste and massage it in. (I did this in a gallon ziplock bag)

Refrigerate 24 hours.

Make the jerk bbq sauce. Put a medium size fry pan with the canola oil on medium low heat. Heat the oil till shimmering. Add the onion, garlic ginger, reserved marinade. Simmer till onion is clear (5-8 minutes). Add the ketchup and brown sugar and heat till the mixture is red and caramelized (around 30 minutes). Take off heat and blend till smooth.

Cooking the chicken. Preheat the oven and oiled grill pan to 325 F. are sure the grill pan gets hot and let it roast for ten minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade ****BUT SAVE THE MARINADE*****If you are using skin on chicken it goes for around ten minutes a side. I used boneless skinless thighs and I did 15 minutes on each side.

It didn’t char like I wanted maybe because of the lower heat but it did come out really great and very juicy. I thought about grilling the chicken on my bbq grill but I would have made a mess out if it that would be hard to clean in the over 100 degree temperature that we have in Phoenix.

Chicken is not done yet.

You put the chicken in a pan and pour the marinade on it.

Cover the pan. Cook till the chicken is done. 45 minutes was suggested for bone in skin on chicken that you can crisp up under the broiler. The chicken thighs only needed 15 minutes and before serving got brushed with the Jerk bbq sauce.

A special THANKS!!!! to Kwame Onwuachi and Food Network Magazine for such a FORKING AMAZING Recipe! This one is truly a keeper.

I watched the Foodnetwork show Big Restaurant Bet where the winning chef made these faux crab cakes out of Lions Mane Mushrooms. Everyone was raving about how great they were. I couldn’t find the winning chef’s recipe on the internet but I did find this James Beard award wining blog called Forager Chef. I thought that his recipe seemed pretty solid. A few minor things I did change to make the recipe a little more foolproof.

This recipe makes 4 servings

12 oz lions mane mushrooms (Whole Foods sells them in 6oz tubs cheaper than anywhere else I’ve found them ($5.99 a tub))

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 Tablespoons water

1/4 cup scallions – minced

1/4 cup red bell pepper – minced

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (plus a small amount more ( 1/4 cup) to finish cakes)

1/4 cup high fat mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons cilantro chopped (or tarragon or parsley leaves)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire

1 teaspoon Old Bay

1 large egg – beaten

sea salt to taste

non stick spray

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 shallot minced

1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish

lemon wedges for serving

optional chives for serving

Directions

Break down the lions mane mushrooms into shreds. Add the mushrooms to a covered fry pan with the water and salt and simmer till the mushrooms are cooked. Take off the heat. When the mushrooms are cool enough to handle squeeze all the water out of them. I put mine in a colander over a tub to catch the liquid.

Now mix up the mix that you mix into the mushrooms.

In a medium bowl combine the scallions, bell pepper, 1/2 cup panko, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, herbs, Worcestershire, Old Bay, egg. Mix well and adjust seasoning if necessary.

When the mushrooms are drained and cool you can mix them into this mixture. Everything needs to chill very well. You need to let this sit in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours or over night.

This is when you might want to make the remoulade. In a small bowl mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, soy sauce, smoked paprika, dijon, shallot and horseradish. Refrigerate and use when serving.

When you are ready to cook. Set your oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a baking sheet with neutral non stick spray. Make 4 even size patties and dredge them lightly in panko and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle each side lightly with sea salt and pepper.

They go on a middle rack for 20 minutes. Finish them and get them crispy by placing under the broiler a couple minutes on each side.

Look how flaky they come out. They have the texture very similar to crab.

Serve with lemon, remoulade, and chives if you have any.

A Special THANKS!!! To Forager Chef for his amazing recipe so I could come up with what you see here today!

I happened to have some avocados and some herbs to use up. Yesterday I made the crisps……because I was mad when I followed a high end chefs recipe for crisps and they didn’t come out right…..(I KNEW something was wrong with THAT recipe….it sure didn’t sound right)…Anyways This pesto is delicious don’t worry about measurement exactly for the pesto because avocados run different in in size and so to the herb bunches……The crisps here also do come out but that you have to measure exactly. I did a variation on Epicurious Flatbread Recipe…same recipe but I swapped out 3/4 cup of flour for whole wheat graham flour ( Avery tasty sweet nutty tasting flour) because I KNOW THAT RECIPE COMES OUT. I seasoned the flatbreads with fancy salt flakes, fresh crushed black pepper, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds. It is so yummy with the Avocado Walnut Pesto. Either you won’t stop eating it or you can impress people with it. Serving size is hard to say. I don’t know if you want this as an appetizer or a lunch. I’d say it makes 4- 8 servings. I’ll say a conservative 4 servings based on the amount of avocado I used but you really have enough crisps for eight.

Ingredients for at least 4 servings

1 cup AP flour

3/4 cup whole wheat graham flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

flake sea salt for finishing

poppy seeds for finishing

fresh crushed black pepper for finishing

sesame seeds for finishing

2 avocados – just the flesh

1 cup basil leaves – rough chopped

1 cup parsley leaves – rough chopped

5 oz walnuts

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

crushed red pepper to taste (I used 4 Calabrian piri piri peppers)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

a small amount of water to get things blending

Directions

Set oven to 450 F. You need three parchment papers to cover sheet pans.

In a big bowl mix together the flours, baking powder salt, water and oil. Once you’ve got it mixed well make it into three balls. Cover the balls with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.

You have to cover the dough with plastic wrap and roll each ball out thin with a rolling pin. (make sure the dough is at least as thin as a tortilla.)

Then sprinkle the sea salt flakes, fresh ground black pepper, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and pat them in slightly so they don’t roll off. Remove the plastic wrap and put in the preheated middle rack of a 450 F oven for about ten minutes.

To make the avocado walnut pesto I used a stick blender and blended together the avocado, basil, parsley, walnuts, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, salt, crushed peppers, olive oil and after it was hard to blend I added a small amount of water that might have been 2 or 3 tablespoons. It’s so delicious with these flatbreads.

A special THANKS!! To Epicurious for a reliable flatbread recipe that we can customize.