Damn, I’ve been making jerk chicken ever since WATN came out.
I’ve mainly used a recipe Toomuchstash posted after I was looking for Steve’s recipe. I have it memorized and by this point it’s basically like a jazz piece that always has some improvised creativity just for the hell of it. For something mellower than the chilis/bonnets, I sub a small can of sliced green chilis. The recipe can be tweaked to make a great sauce by doubling the lime juice and maybe a little spiced rum for good measure. I typically don’t add soy sauce and sub brown sugar if I’m not doing it as a marinade. Erm, what else, you can add a bundle of cilantro in the food processor if you don’t have the OR6A2 gene that makes it taste like soap.
As a side, I’ve been using a fried plantains on black beans recipe from a somewhat famous restaurant in SF whose name temporarily escapes me. Anyway, it’s pretty easy: slice use the large plantains (unlike bananas, the uglier/browner the better. Also 1 plantain per per person is safe) sliced thin (around 0.25 inches/0.5 cm), mix in a bowl with cooking oil, put them on a cookie sheet, throw in the oven at about 450F/230C until slightly crispy (15-20 min?), flip midway or cook on a wire rack (still use a cookie sheet under lest your house smell like burning cooking oil). Plantains essentially cook the same as potatoes, so you can fry them in oil too. Once cooked, add salt and I usually dust smoked paprika.
Then for the black beans, if you make the marinade/sauce the same day, use a can of black beans (1 can per 2 people), remove some/most liquid from the can and put in the food processor after you’ve taken the marinade out (the remaining sauce adds a nice touch) and blend until at/near pureed, put in a small pot, set low on a back burner while everything else cooks. Once plating, put down the black beans first, plantains on top and then little drizzle with sour cream (ie through a cut corner of a ziplock bag) or scoop a decent spoon full right on the side if you’re feeling lazy. Boom, have some more of that rum.