hey YO! It was that time again in Kingsport, time for Fun Fest. What exactly is Fun Fest you ask, well Fun Fest is a 9-day Festival, featuring 80+ events in 30+ locations around Kingsport, TN. The majority of the events are free and open to the public. Events range from a parade, 8K races, sporting events, senior events, hot air balloons, concerts, food trucks, moonlight hikes, outdoor movies, block parties, gospel shows, fireworks and more.
In 1981, Kingsport’s Fun Fest was founded with an original theme of “Community Unity.” Fun Fest’s sole objective was “to promote unity, harmony, fellowship and cooperation among people in the greater Kingsport Area. In short, Fun Fest was created as an effort to promote the “Kingsport Spirit” and foster the belief that Kingsport is a caring community, a good place to live and to work, and to provide numerous opportunities for people to congregate and become acquainted while appealing to their interests in culture, athletics, arts and entertainment. The festival gladly hosts 100,000+ residents and visitors from the region and beyond each year.
One of the main events every year is the Taste, which is held outside of the concert stadium, in Memorial Park, They have 15 – 20 food trucks set up selling their specialties ranging from pizza, BBQ, Mexican, Chinese, seafood, ice cream and treats. This is where I came across Island Vibe Grill’s food truck. Andrea got a dish called the Marley Wrap and she let me take a bite… WOW!!!
I’m hooked! The next day we go back and the first place I go, to get myself one of the wraps. In fact I ended up eating 2 of them before even thinking about visiting other vendors. And then.. it was all over and now I was left with a desire for more jerk chicken.
So I started searching online for different recipes to build up my own version of this “Marley Wrap”. After browsing a few I started to make a list and placed my order so I can get in the kitchen to make us my own “Thompson Wrap”.
I added the ingredients into the food processor and blended it all together and the marinade turned out absolutely spot on! I poured it into a ziplock bag along with some thinly sliced chicken breasts and let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours. After that to the grill I went and perfection was the results. I’m not going to keep dragging this on and I’ll get to the recipe, but I will say that next time I make this dish, I am going to set some of the marinade aside and have it to use at dinner time. I hope you all enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you. If I had to rate this dish, I can honestly say that this might be one of the best meals I have ever created.. give it a try for yourself, you won’t be disappointed! Captain out…
Jerk Chicken
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced chicken breasts or thighs
4 habanero peppers (chopped)
1 small red onion (chopped)
4 garlic cloves (chopped)
4 stalks scallions (chopped)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apple cidervinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup orange juice
Juice from half a lime (lime juice)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
Directions
For the jerk marinade, add all of the marinade ingredients to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
Next, poke some holes in your chicken with a knife to let the marinade permeate more deeply.
Set the chicken into a large bowl or into a sealable baggie. Pour the marinade over the chicken and rub it down. Make sure to completely cover the chicken with the marinade. Cover, refrigerate, and marinate the chicken at least 2 hours.
Grill: Heat your grill to medium-high heat and lightly oil the grill grates. Grill the chicken for 12-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. It should measure 165 degrees F internally.
Bake: Heat your oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the chicken for 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. It should measure 165 degrees F internally. Grilling is more traditional, but baking is easy.
Remove from heat and serve.
I used naan bread to make a wrap and added lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese and toppped with a little bit of ranch. Bon Appétit!!
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