JAMAICAN FLAVOURED BURGERS WITH SWEET POTATO CHIPS

Whenever I travel to other major cities I usually always visit a Jamaican restaurant. I love the bold flavours and simple but tasty cooking style and Brisbane doesn't really have any authentic Jamaican eateries yet.

When I came across this range of Jamaican rubs & sauces from The Ja Joint last year I was very excited. Not only are they made right here in Brisbane, they are damn good and I can now easily cook some of my favourite Jamaican dishes at home. 

Now for even more good news - we're now stocking them at Meat at Billy's. There are four products in the range and they're all extremely versatile. You can make all sorts of delicious things with them.

Here's a quick and easy recipe we think you'll enjoy.
 
Sweet Potato Chips Jerk Seasoned – oven baked and healthy
Preheat hob and oven on high add small amount amount of oil
Cut sweet potato in to chips and pan fry on a high heat when oil is hot
Turn the chips to give an even golden crispy seal.
Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
Toss through 1-2 tablespoons of Jamaican Jerk Rub & place in baking tray 
Pop in oven for 20 minutes on 180 degrees

Homemade Jamaican Spiced Burger – with some attitude
Dice 1 onion and fry off with some chopped garlic for 2 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons of Jamican curry mix and stir.
Soak 1 white bread roll in water, drain and pull into small pieces
Mix onion, garlic and bread through 500 grams of mince (beef, chicken or pork).
Season with salt and pepper add 2 tablespoons of flour to bind. Mix through.

Roll into balls and flatten. Fry on a medium heat and turn after 5-10 minutes. After the first turn, place a wedge of the tastiest cheese you can find on top of the cooked side of the pattie. The cheese will then melt while the other side is cooking.

Serve in a soft bun and add Jamaican BBQ sauce to the base, fresh lettuce, beetroot, tomato and if you like it hot, add some Jamaican Habanero Hot Sauce for a real spicy kick!

BUTTER CHICKEN - THE RANGOON RACQUET CLUB

These Rangoon Racquet Club Indian Curry Sauces are new to Meat at Billy's and we're loving them. We thought we'd start off with this recipe because everyone loves a good Butter Chicken don't they?

If you like your curry sauces hot & spicy - try the Vindaloo. That one is guaranteed to warm you up!

Serves 8 people
Ingredients
 1.5kg chicken thigh fillets
 1 jar of Rangoon Racquet Club Butter Sauce
 ghee or vegetable oil
 150ml cream
 bunch of fresh coriander
 toasted almonds
 fried schallots
 steamed rice

Method
1. Cut chicken thighs into four pieces.
2. Heat ghee or oil in a fry pan and brown chicken.
3. Add Rangoon Racquet Club Butter Sauce and heat through.
6. Add cream and reduce to the thickness of double cream.
Serving suggestions
Sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander, toasted almonds and fried schallots on top of steamed rice.

FRESH THYME & VERJUICE ROAST CHICKEN WITH DUCK FAT POTATOES

Who doesn't love a good ol' roast chook? It's comfort food at its best. The beauty of it is that really, it's like a blank canvas. Chicken loves being cooked with a multitude of different flavours so you can use almost any fresh herb to change it up a little and make it different each time if you want to.

This will be the first of many roast chook recipes we'll post because there are so many different ways to do it. This method is fairly fool proof and of course the exact cooking times will also differ depending on the exact size of your bird and also your oven.

How will you know if it's cooked? My mum taught me to pierce the skin down near the thigh joint and if the juices run clear, then it's cooked. Be sure to catch all of the juices though.

Another fool proof way is to invest in a thermometer. The $10-$20 is a clever investment in my opinion. It takes all of the guess work out and you'll never ruin a fantastice piece of meat again. This way you won't lose any of the juices either. Measure the temperature of the thigh, close to the bone. There are differing opinions on this (just google and you'll see what I mean) but you want it to be at around 72-75 degrees according to health regulations. Maggie Beer, bless her, likes her chook cooked to no more than 68 degrees. Heston Blumenthal reckons 60 degrees is enough! See what I mean... It's confusing.

INGREDIENTS

1 x Dakota Vale Farm free range chook* (approx 1.6-2kg)
verjuice
duck fat
olive oil
fresh thyme
4 large potatoes
bunch of asparagus
8 Swiss Brown mushrooms

For the gravy
 20ml dry white wine
 250ml chicken stock
 1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)
 1 sprig of thyme

Method:

Remove chicken from fridge 30 mins before cooking. Preheat oven to 220 degrees. 
Peel, cut into required size and par boil potatoes (half cook). Drain and leave to dry. 

Place chicken in a roasting pan place a few sprigs of thyme into the cavity and then drizzle a little olive oil & verjuice, salt & pepper in there as well. Place a few sprigs of thyme between the leg & wing bones. Rub the outside of chicken with olive oil then drizzle verjuice all over the bird & season with salt & pepper.  Place chicken in the oven and reduce heat to 180 degrees. Cook for 1 hour & 20 mins. Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 15 mins before serving.

The potatoes require approx 1 hour cooking time. Heat 2 tbsp duck fat in a roasting tray. Coat potatoes in heated duck fat, season liberally with salt & pepper and roast until golden & crunchy, turning once or twice during cooking.

Grill asparagus on a medium heat with olive oil & a dash of verjuice. Sautée mushrooms in olive oil with some fresh thyme, salt & pepper.

If making the gravy...
Remove chicken from roasting pan to rest. Place pan on a medium-high heat. Add the white wine and stir, gently scraping the crunchy bits off the bottom of the pan (this is called deglazing). Add the chicken stock & some chopped thyme leaves and cook until liquid reduces to a sauce. Before serving, stir in the mustard if you're using it and warm through. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.