Roger Mooking, host of Cooking Channel show “Man Fire Food” and Juno-award winning musician, is a Caribbean-born, Canadian-bred culinary force. Though he's traveled the world and developed an international palate along the way, Mooking still gets a craving for the home cooked dishes from his West Indian childhood. Here, Mooking walks us through his spin on a traditional Trinidadian chicken. "This dish is the Trini equivalent to the roasted chicken that is so popular in North America," says Mooking. "It is a very common day-to-day Trini dish that I grew up eating about twice a week." Take notes as Mooking mugs for the camera and spills his recipe below.
Trinidadian-Style Chicken with Plantain:
Prep: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep: 24 hour marinade
Cook: 1 hour 10 minutes
4 servings
Ingredients:
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 white onion, cut into small dice
1 green chile, seeded and halved lengthwise, optional
1 unripe plantain, halved lengthwise and chopped
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Kosher salt
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Ames Marinade:
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 shallots, coarsely chopped
Bunch green onions, trimmed and chopped
Bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stems coarsely chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Directions:
For the marinade: Place the garlic, shallots, onions, parsley, and vegetable oil in a food processor, and puree. Transfer the garlic mixture to a container, and set aside.
For the chicken: Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and add half of the Amise marinade, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for a maximum of 24 hours.
In a wide-based pan, heat the sugar and vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Swirl the glaze until the sugar caramelizes and browns, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. As soon as the sugar caramelizes, add the chicken pieces, in one layer skin-side down and brown the chicken on all sides, about approximately 5 minutes.
Add the onion, chile, plantain, tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce to the pan, and stir. Pour in the chicken stock, and bring the ingredients to a boil. Add in the reserved marinade and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, and season the dish with salt, to taste. Turn off the heat.
Transfer the chicken to a serving plate and garnish with the cilantro leaves just before serving.
All images are courtesy of Everday Exotic: The Cookbook.