Last week, I wrote about my experiments with a Jamaican jerk spice mix recipe. I just sprinkled it on chicken thighs, but @millycf1976 offered some suggestions to alter the recipe and encouraged me to make a proper marinade. As a result, some briefly-marinaded chicken breast strips and pork chops were Sunday dinner, and the rest was left for 24 hours to be dinner tonight.

New Recipe

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic bulb, minced
• 1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, diced fine
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons lime or lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground thyme
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

I should note that Camille suggested adding tomato sauce, too.

Combine all ingredients and marinade your preferred cuts of chicken or pork for at least one hour, and ideally overnight, in the refrigerator. Bake, broil, or grill as you see fit. I baked at 350°F for 30 minutes or so. If I had a grill, I could have potentially tried to find some pimento wood chips for more authenticity.

My parents survived the heat two nights in a row. The pork chops were tender and tasty. The chicken strips were great for filling a sandwich with the leftovers. I left more of the marinade on some pieces than others so diners could choose how much kick each piece had. I make no claims to authenticity, but I think I am getting closer to the goal here.

Peeling apart the garlic bulb, stripping the papery husks off each clove, and then crushing them in the garlic press was a tedious and messy process. I'm not a snob who would look down on anyone who buys a jar of store-bought minced garlic instead.

The onion I bought turned out to have developed soft spots, but a replacement was close to hand in the Mother Thing's kitchen. Dicing onions really make my eyes sting. I know, it's like saying going swimming makes me wet. I don't like dicing onions or swimming.

I sliced up the pepper without much trouble. Potent little thing... No pictures, alas. But I didn't absentmindedly double up on the eye stinging after chopping it up!

I liked this spicy and savory culinary experiment, but I think next week will include a milder Mediterranean herb pork chop dinner. If you're interested, follow my posts. If all goes to plan, I'll share the results and recipe some time Sunday night or Monday.