Playing with big flavours can be a high-stakes kitchen game. The stronger you try to make something taste, the more you risk losing the flavour of your key ingredient.
When done well, complex marinades or sauces can be a beautifully nuanced enhancement to any dish. But if you miss the mark, that complexity can become a confused muddle.
![Simmering before charring ensures the success of your jerk chicken.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170808021041im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/f/i/c/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvfi9o.png/1492434884074.jpg)
The key – as in many things with cooking – is restraint. For complex dishes, you don't want any one flavour to dominate. Think of a perfectly balanced curry in which all the spices work together in rich harmony.
The goal is not necessarily a strong spice flavour, but a complex one.
That balance can also work across a whole meal. Here I've paired a subtle but complex jerk chicken with the clean flavour of single-note peach pudding dessert, instead of, say, a fruit cake where a number of spices and fruits might compete.
Big flavours aren't for the faint-hearted, but with a delicate hand they can bring great results.
TWO-STEP JERK CHICKEN
Serves 4
One of the hardest things about making jerk chicken on the bone is avoiding charring the outside before the inside is cooked. This two-step process is pretty much idiot-proof.
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 spring onions, white and green parts, chopped
• 2-4 jalapeño or large green chillies
• 2 tsp finely grated ginger
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp thyme leaves
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ground allspice
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil or other neutral oil
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tbsp rum (optional)
• 4 chicken Marylands
Place all the ingredients except the chicken into a blender and process until smooth.
Using a sharp knife, make a few deep cuts through to the bone on the leg and thigh of each Maryland. Place into a large bowl and pour over the marinade. Coat the chicken well, then place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to marinate.
Transfer the chicken and marinade to a saucepan large enough for the chicken to sit in a single layer. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and tender, turning occasionally and topping up with water if it looks too dry. Allow the chicken to cool in the marinade.
Heat a barbecue to high and grill the chicken, turning frequently until it is well browned and charred in places.
PEACH PUDDING
Serves 4
This pudding could not be easier. Just set it and forget it
![Peach pudding.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170808021041im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/f/i/b/s/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x0.png/1491478592502.png)
Peach pudding. Photo: William Meppem
• 1 tbsp powdered gelatine
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ can (190ml) evaporated milk, plus extra to serve
• 2-4 ripe yellow peaches, stones removed and puréed with skin on (enough to produce 1½ cups peach purée), plus 1 extra peach, peeled and sliced, to serve
• sprigs of mint, to serve
Bring 1 cup of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan and add the gelatine powder, stirring gently until it dissolves. Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved, then add the evaporated milk and heat, stirring frequently for about 3 minutes until warmed through. Remove from the heat, add the peach purée and stir to combine.
Pour into 4 x 250ml dariole moulds and chill for about 3 hours until well set throughout. To serve, turn the puddings out of the moulds, scatter with the peach slices and sprigs of mint, then drizzle a little extra evaporated milk over the top