January 18th: A jerk makes pineapple chicken, beans, and rice.

I once again set some garlic and onions to sizzle in my favorite big wok, and chopped up some jalapenos while they caramelized. This time however the little green bits of pepper were added to a sauce pan full of black beans, along with a healthy dose of cumin, onions and chili powder. By the time I had the beans simmering in their own juice the onions were nice and rusty.

In went the chicken into the wok, along with some jerk seasoning. I cooked with a very high heat, browning the bird on both sides. The whole apartment smelling great now, because nothing smells better than meat being sauteed in onions and garlic.

Rice cooking in the rice cooker, I opened a small can of pineapple chunks in their own juice and dumped that over the chicken bird. Turning down the heat I let the ingredients simmer until the pineapple juice had thickened to a nice glaze.

Plopped the rice beans and chicken onto a plate and sat down to eat.

 The beans and rice were great. I would have liked to have some lime to squeeze into the beans while the cooked, but they turned out nice and hearty and while not the best batch I have made (I attempt these beans often, and the results vary), the were still pretty damn good.

The chicken, while not a failure per se, was far from what I had intended. Much more bland than I expected. nice and tender from simmering slowly in the pineapple juice, but it didn't seem to retain as much of the pineapple flavor as I had hoped. I will have to try this one again.