Jamaican Jerked Chicken Wings

Bill's Grille favorite customer (Bill's wife) loves these jerked chicken wings for lunch or a midday snack.  They are very good chilled or microwave heated.  This low-carb recipe was adapted from a New York Times 7/2/08 article about a Jamaican grill called McKenzie's on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.

Ingredients:

• About 5 pounds of chicken wings, (yes, they do store well in the refrigerator after grilling)
• 1 bunch of scallions coarsely chopped, include white and green parts
• 2 shallots peeled and halved.
• 4 Serrano chilies chopped, include seeds (standard recipes for jerk call for scotch bonnet chilies, but I find these scotch bonnet (or habaneros) chilies way too hot for my taste, even though I am not a stranger to hot, spicy food)
• 1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and coarsely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves or 1 tablespoon dried
• 2 tablespoons of ground allspice
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of Splenda (or brown sugar if you don't care about bad carbs)
• 1 tablespoon sugar-free maple syrup (or 1 more tablespoon of brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup canola or grape seed oil
• juice of two limes

At least one day before cooking, pat chicken wings dry with paper towels, clip off ends, and place in an aluminium pan. Combine the remaining ingredients in a blender and grind to a coarse paste. Slather the paste over the chicken wings, covering all sides.  Either cover the pan with plastic wrap or place wings in a two gallon plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

Prepare grill for low-heat direct or indirect grilling and smoking with your favorite wood (pimento is the standard for jerk, but hard to get).  When the grill is heated and the smoke is billowing, place wings on grill and cover.  Keep the grill temperature adjusted to between 300 to 350 degrees.

After about 20 minutes, turn the wings over and grill covered for another 15 minutes.  Add wood if needed to maintain the smoke.

Check the wings for doneness.  The wings should have brownish bark. Continue to grill as needed to cook thoroughly.

When cooked, the wings can be served hot off the grill or refrigerated for cold or reheated servings.