Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken

I know what you’re thinking. How could I possibly know anything about authentic Jamaican food? I love Jamaican food, and asked a Jamaican friend of mine for a few of her recipes. It took a little arm twisting, but she finally gave in and shared a few with me, and I’m so glad she did. Two recipes in particular I have found lend themselves to slow cooker freezer bag meals.

Brown stew chicken is delicious and goes perfectly with rice on the side, or if you’re daring, rice and peas. Unfortunately rice does not freeze well at all. I almost never freeze it. There is always an exception, but I would never freeze it for a side dish in a meal like this. So when you make this either whip out your rice cooker and set rice to cook while you take a few minutes to unwind for the day, or I’ve even cheated and stopped by the Chinese restaurant on my way home and for $1.25 purchased a quart of white rice. And since they always have it hot and ready, there’s no wait. Whatever you put on the side will be fine.

When she gave me this recipe she actually told me to get a whole chicken at the butcher and ask him to cut it up into curry size. My butcher looked at me like I was crazy, but if yours knows what that means please do so. I substitute legs and thighs because those mixed packs often go on sale and are significantly cheaper than breasts, but it you want to use breast you can, just cut them in half width wise. 

Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken.

1 lb. chicken legs and thighs

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, mined

2 stalks green onion, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. black pepper

2 Tbsp. ketchup

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 cups chicken broth

Salt to taste

4 medium sized potatoes roughly chopped (add in on day of cooking)

Get a large freezer safe Ziploc bag and write on it. Pour all contents of the bag into your slow cooker. Add 4 medium sized potatoes roughly chopped. Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours. Combine the soy sauce, garlic, onion, carrot, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, pepper, ketchup, sugar, and chicken broth in the Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and give a good shake to combine all the ingredients. Once they are well mixed add in the chicken. Lay flat to freeze. When ready to cook. Remove from the freezer the night before, place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. In the morning, pour into the crock pot, add the potatoes and cook on low for 8 hours.