Jerk Chicken with Mojo Sauce

I'm not a huge fan of jerk chicken, or jerk anything really. It's usually too hot for me, yet there have been occasions where the jerk part isn't so much hot as it is flavorful.  When we were in New Orleans, for example, I had some jerk chicken that was in fact flavorful and not hot.

The star of this show was the mojo (prounced mo-ho) sauce.  Two terrific island delights, jerk seasoning and mojo sauce. Yum.  It wasn't quite like a vacation on the beach, but it was pretty darn close.

Jerk seasoning hails from Jamaica and is most often on grilled meats. Mojo sauce is a simple mix of orange and garlic.  It's used as a baste and glaze in this recipe.

I didn't have any chicken in the freezer so I used pork. I'm not sure that really makes that much of a difference what meat it gets put on and since I had pork...pork it is.

If you're not a fan of allspice this recipe isn't for you. It's very prominent in this recipe.  I most likely wouldn't make this recipe again - though only because I have hundreds of chicken/pork/meat recipes to make.

Photo by Jenn Wraspir

Jerk Chicken with Mojo Sauce
Makes 4 chicken breasts

For the Mojo sauce -
1/4 c frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 T fresh lime juice
1 T honey
1 T minced garlic
1 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

For the Chicken -
2 T brown sugar
1 T garlic powder
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 boneless chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat grill to medium-high heat
Whisk together all the ingredients for the mojo sauce in a bowl and set aside.

Combine brown sugar through nutmeg in a separate bowl.  Rub it on the chicken coating it nicely.

Grill chicken. Baste the chicken with the mojo sauce as you grill it.

Jenn note - I kept some of the mojo sauce on the side to use as a dipping sauce with the chicken - or um pork in my case.