Like wine & cheese, peanut butter & jelly, Timon & Pumbaa, food & my mouth.
You know what I mean.
The freshness of the mango salsa is just the right thing to go with the richness of the jerk seasoning. Jerk seasoning is so deep and complex and I just love it. This recipe makes a small batch that you can store in the fridge pretty much forever. Oh, and I used fish instead of chicken but any protein will do.
So this is what you need:
Those are allspice berries, not peppercorns. Just incase you were wondering. You can use ground allspice but I chose to grind them fresh. Since allspice is one of the main components of jerk seasoning, I wanted its flavor to shine.
This is so easy to make. You basically just throw everything into a food processor/blender and blitz the hell out of it until it’s as smooth as you want it. I like mine pretty smooth but I still wanna see little chunks of the spices.
Add the garlic, green onions and whatever chile you decided to use.
Then add a 1/4 cup of brown sugar, that is the traditional ingredient. If it’s against your religion, or diet or “lifestyle change,” then go ahead and use honey, maple syrup or molasses.
Then you want a 1/4 cup of the allspice as well.
Add a tablespoon of thyme. This is actually oregano but if you squint and tilt your head to the side it’s basically thyme. Ahem.
A teaspoon of cinnamon:
And finally, a 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible):
Blend this mixture while streaming in a tablespoon or two of oil until it emulsifies.
This is the consistency I ended up with:
It’s a wet marinade basically.
Preheat your oven to 400F.
Ok, so set the jerk seasoning aside and let’s make the mango salsa. You need mango, of course. Mango has a big seed in the middle so don’t cut it right down the middle.
Here, move over, let me show you.
Then cut a grid into each mango half and spoon the chunks out into a bowl.
Now dice and add the red (WTF they’re purple) onions. I’m going to start a petition to change their name from red to purple onion. Right after I take that yoga class I’ve been meaning to try.
Add some cilantro, the juice of a lime and some S&P.
Look at you! Making mango salsa and shit.
Ok, so let the mango salsa chill in the fridge and by now the oven should be at 400F.
Spray a lined baking sheet with some nonstick spray. I used the coconut oil kind, it made me feel very Caribbean.
Next, coat the fish fillet with a *heaping spoonful* of the jerk seasoning.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until cooked through.
This is how it looks cooked.
Mmmmm. So much flavor.
Top it with the salsa and enjoy! Yea mon! Omg whyyy?
Finish it off with a squeeze of lime and it is perfection. It just brightens the whole thing up.
Hubba hubba. Remember when that was a thing? What’s that? It never was? Hehehe, I know that! That’s what I just said, silly.
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