Serves 6
The best part of jerk chicken is its flavor. It’s very different, and for this dish, that flavor is translated into a very tropical experience. I like this dish because it looks, and is, very simple—allowing the flavors and complexities of pineapple and jerk seasoning to really come through. The dish has sweetness, spice, a rich, savory chicken broth, and a little carbonated pineapple to wake up your taste buds. It’s almost as if you’re eating it at the beach.
3 chicken carcasses, cut into pieces
1 onion, cut into large dice
1 carrot, cut into large dice
½ head of celery, cut into large dice
1 head of garlic
5 grams thyme sprigs
12 peppercorns
500 grams Chicken Stock
5 grams garlic powder
3 grams sugar
3 grams ground cloves
3 grams ground cinnamon
2 grams dried thyme
2 grams salt
2 grams cayenne pepper
1 gram ground black pepper
1 pineapple
1 jalapeño
Salt for seasoning
Sugar for seasoning
Whipped cream canister and CO2 charges (see Sources, here)
Six 20-ml plastic pipettes (optional)
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Put the chicken carcasses on oiled sheet pans and roast for 1 hour. Remove the bones from the pans and transfer to a large stockpot. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, thyme, and peppercorns. Pour water over the bones until it rises to 1 inch above the level of the bones. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook at a gentle simmer for 3 hours. Strain through a chinois and then a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. If making the stock in advance, place the bowl in an ice bath to chill and then store in the refrigerator until ready to proceed with the recipe.
Put 500 grams of the Chicken Stock in a saucepot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add the garlic powder, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, thyme, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve and keep warm until ready to plate.
Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Stand it up on a cutting board and use a chef’s knife to cut away the outside layer of skin. Lay the pineapple on its side and cut it into ½-inch-thick slices. You will need 6 for the dish. Use a 2-inch round cutter to punch out pineapple rounds from the center of the slices, and then use a 1-inch round cutter to punch out the cores and form even circles. Reserve the extra pineapple for another use.
Remove the seeds and stem from the jalapeño and cut the flesh into ¼-inch dice.
Put the pineapple in a bowl and season lightly with salt and sugar. Add the jalapeño to the bowl and toss to coat. Put the seasoned pineapple slices in a whipped cream canister and charge with two CO2 charges. Refrigerate the canister with the fruit for at least 4 hours before opening.
Just before you’re ready to serve, release the pressure from the whipped cream canister: Stand it upright on a counter, and hold a cup loosely over the nozzle tip to keep the cold gas from blowing in your face. Pulse the lever until all the gas has been expelled. Then unscrew the top and remove the Pineapple rings. Fill six 20-ml pipettes with the hot seasoned Jerk Chicken Stock and place 1 through the center of each carbonated Pineapple ring; alternatively, fill each of 6 graduated cylinders with 20ml of the hot seasoned Jerk Chicken Stock and place next to the Pineapple. Arrange on 6 plates and serve immediately.