Citrus jerk chicken with cornmeal waffles

Citrus fruits make this jerk chicken extra zingy. Don’t worry if you don’t have a waffle iron, you can cook the waffles in a frying pan like pancakes.

Ingredients

For the citrus jerk chicken

2 onions, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
5cm/2in piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
handful fresh coriander finely chopped
2 limes, juice only
2 lemons, juice only
2 oranges, juice only
1 scotch bonnet chilli pepper, finely chopped
4 tbsp soy or tamari sauce
1 tsp ground nutmeg
handful fresh thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
1 tbsp English mustard
1 tsp ground allspice
5 tbsp rum
1tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp ground sea salt
2tbsp olive oil
10 chicken pieces, thighs and drumsticks
150g/5½oz runny honey

For the cornmeal waffles

2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vinegar
500g/1lb 2oz plain four
500g/1lb 2oz finely ground cornmeal
6 tsp sugar
3 free-range eggs, beaten
500ml/18fl oz whole milk

To serve

handful lamb’s lettuce
1 orange, peeled and segmented

Method

To make the citrus jerk chicken, place all the ingredients, except the chicken pieces, into a large bowl and mix well. Place the chicken pieces into the marinade and cover with cling film. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Transfer the chicken to a large baking tray and sit skin-side up. Roast the chicken in the middle of the oven for around 30–40 minutes; check it after 15–20 minutes and turn the pieces to make sure it’s cooking evenly. When the chicken is golden, and the juices are running clear, it is cooked. Drizzle the honey over the chicken pieces and roast for a further 10 minutes.
To make the cornmeal waffles, preheat a waffle maker and mix the baking powder and vinegar to a smooth paste.
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, eggs and milk together in a bowl and stir in the vinegar and baking powder mixture. Pour the mix into the hot waffle maker and cook for around 6 minutes, or until golden-brown. Alternatively, heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat, add a splash of oil and fry the batter in batches, like pancakes.
To serve, divide the chicken between four plates and serve a waffle with each. Garnish with some lamb’s lettuce and orange segments.