Best Jerk Chicken Nachos

I admit that I contemplated this recipe for quite some time before I finally broke down and made it. I love Jerk Chicken and sweet potatoes and plantains, black beans, etc. I have a couple of recipes on here utilizing the classic basics of Caribbean cuisine, but I had no idea how potatoes and plantains were going to work well on tortilla chips. Searching the web to see if anyone had attempted potatoes on chips was a futile effort. The only “Nacho Potatoes” or “Potato Nachos” were that of the new fangled idea of using potato slices as the chip itself. I’m guessing this is to alleviate the gluten. I probably wouldn’t mind this method as it would simply be a deconstructed baked potato to me, but were getting off the subject. I was finishing up a glass of Cabernet and built up the guts to try this idea out and take that chance. Surprisingly enough it superseded my expectations and it was absolutely fantastic. It was one of those literally patting myself on the back moments and I decided to post the recipe. So, here it is, The Best Jerk Chicken Nachos.

The Chicken:

2 large chicken breast

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 green onions, chopped

3 small cloves garlic, minced

1 orange habanero, sliced

1 large bunch cilantro, rough chopped

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs lime juice

½ c brown sugar

1 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp clove powder

3/4 tsp cinnamon

⅓ c vegetable oil

The Rest:

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced and diced

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

1 semi-soft plantain

Salt and pepper to taste

Tortilla chips

2½ c refried black beans

2 c shredded pepper-jack cheese

2 large jalapenos, sliced

2 c shredded Monterey-jack cheese

⅔ c cilantro, rough chopped

2 large avocados

⅔ tsp lime juice

Salt to taste

Sour cream

Start off by marinating your chicken breast. I prefer to marinade over night but, a minimum of 3 hours should be fine. Transfer all of the chicken ingredients to a gallon zip seal bag. Make sure to coat the chicken well. Squeeze all of the air out of the bag and seal. Place in the fridge during this process. I like to flip the bag over periodically during the marinating process. Once you’re ready to cook the chicken, preheat your oven to 350°. Transfer breasts and entire contents of bag to a large sheet pan.
Bake for roughly 45 minutes depending on your oven. Turn on the broiler to get a little char on the top of the chicken breasts. Remove from oven and set aside. If you have a double oven, you can bake off the sweet potatoes while your chicken cooks. Preheat to 375°. Toss potatoes in olive oil and bake for around 20 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and transfer to a stainless steel bowl. Toss with cayenne and set aside. To get the plantains going, preheat your deep fryer to about 320°. While the deep fryer is heating, peel your plantain. Slice it up to get roughly ⅔ inch rounds. Quarter each round. Once the deepfryer is ready, fry up your plantain pieces in batches for about 2 minutes. Transfer to stainless steel bowl and toss with kosher salt and pepper. Set aside. Assemble your chips on a large sheet pan. Heat the black beans over medium high heat until cooked through. Spread beans over chips by just dolloping here and there. Distribute pepper-jack cheese evenly. Slice and dice both breasts and distribute evenly along with the cooked chicken marinade. Sprinkle potatoes, jalapenos and plantains over the chicken and top with Monterey-jack cheese. Heat broiler and broil nachos for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. You can make the quac ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to use. Peel and seed your avocados. Add lime juice and salt. Smash up with a whisk. Top your nachos with the chopped cilantro, guac and sour cream. There you have it. The very best jerk chicken nachos.