Jerk Chicken with Pineapple-Mango Salsa

This recipe for jerk sauce is fiery but not incendiary, full of flavor, and worth the effort to make it. There are as many Jamaican recipes for jerk as there are Jamaicans; I settled on this as one the best of the best. Serve with big iced bottles of Jamaican Red Stripe beer. Read more about Jamaica's Jerk cuisine in the article"Cookin' Jerk on de Barbacoa, Mon!" By Rick Browne

Ingredients

1/3 cup coarsely chopped shallot

4 green onions, green and white parts, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup water

Juice of 2 limes

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 to 1 Scotch bonnet chile, stemmed, seeded, and chopped

3 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon dried thyme

4-6 (4 to 6 oz.) skinless, bone-in chicken breasts

1 cup chopped fresh pineapple

1 cup chopped fresh mango

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced jalapeño

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a food processor or blender, combine the shallots, green onions, oil, water, lime juice, soy sauce, Scotch bonnet, garlic, ketchup, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and thyme and process until a smooth paste forms. Set aside.

Wash the chicken breasts and pat dry. Using rubber gloves, cover each breast with the jerk paste. Place the chicken in a re-sealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours.

Prepare a charcoal or gas barbecue for indirect grilling, placing a drip pan under the cool side of the grill rack.  Preheat to 350 degrees F. Make sure the grill rack is clean, and oil it thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray.

Remove the chicken from the bag and transfer to the prepared grill rack over direct heat. Cook for 5 minutes per side, then move the chicken to the cool side of the grill and cook for 10 to 15 minutes longer per side, until the internal temperature reaches 160˚F. Remove the chicken from the grill and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the salsa by combining the pineapple, mango, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime juice in a food processor and pulsing 3 or4 times until the ingredients are chopped, but still chunky. Pour into a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Serve each breast topped with a generous portion of salsa.