Baked Caribbean Jerk Chicken Wings

Over the summer, my brother turned us on to a great jerk seasoning and marinade. When Brian and I were planning our football-playoff-Sunday menu a couple of weeks ago (yes, we planned our menu), we decided to grill some chicken wings with that marinade.

And then I left the marinade at home. And we couldn't find it at either the grocery stores at the beach. And we already had two pounds of wings.

So I took to Pinterest to find a recipe. There were lots of options, but the thing that got me about this one is that the chicken is baked and there's very little oil. As the marinade came together, it smelled amazing - spicy, warm and sweet. They caramelized perfectly and by the time they came out of the oven, the meat literally fell off of the bone. We used two Habanero peppers (the recipe called for one) - they were definitely spicy but it wasn't overpowering. We put out some mango and pineapple salsa, but they were too good by themselves to add a single thing.

This recipe is absolutely a keeper - we're making them again for Super Bowl!

Ingredients:

• 2 scallions 
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme (about 1 tablespoon chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Habanero peppers, seeds and ribs included (definitely can use as much or as little as you prefer)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 onion
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 lbs chicken wings (we used only 1 lb. for this marinade - used BBQ sauce for the other pound - there was lots of left over marinade)

Method:

1. Coarsely chop the onion, garlic, hot pepper and scallions. 
2. Put vegetables into a food processor or blender and give it a few pulses until you get a sort of smooth (runny) consistency. Set aside.
3. Separate the wings from the drum sticks.Wash the chicken with some lemon juice (you can use lime or vinegar as well – about 3-4 tablespoons), rinse with cool water and drain. Pat dry with paper towels so the marinade can really stick onto the wings. Put chicken in a resealable, gallon-size plastic bag (we did 2 lbs. of wings and split them between two bags).
4. Pour 1/3 of the marinade on the wings and massage the wings with this lovely jerk marinade. Allow this to marinate for at least 30 minutes, before you place it into a 400 degree oven (middle rack).
5. After 30 minutes, remove from oven, flip the wings and return to oven for another 30 minutes.
6. The last 5 minutes, turn on the broiler setting and allow the wings to get a rich brown color with a sort of toasted edges. You may have to give them a flip to ensure all sides gets this lovely sort of charred look.

Source: Caribbean Pot