While trying to come up with a dinner plan recently, I recalled that Shannon enjoys pork chops, so after asking her how her family typically seasons them, we decided upon trying them Jamaican jerk style. While we did not have a handy-dandy store-bought blend available, we did find a recipe online and happened to have all of the ingredients (minus the allspice) on-hand. The end result was delicious and something that I will definitely make again--in fact, I am trying the rub on a whole chicken that we will have for dinner tonight. I think it would also go great on a pork roast.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 to 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice (if you do not have this on-hand, you can make a substitute consisting of 1/4 tsp each of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
Place all ingredients into a small bowl and mix until well-blended. If not planning to use right away, store in an air-tight container. For best results, rub onto the meat of your choice (fresh pork chops, chicken, pork roast, etc.) at least 4 hours in advance; overnight is best. This rub does have some kick to it, so you may want to adjust the spices to fit your taste preferences. Enjoy!
When making the Jamaican jerk pork chops, I used our thawed, fresh (non-smoked) pork chops, patted each chop with a paper towel to have a dry surface, then rubbed the mixture onto both sides, refrigerated for ~6 hours, and placed them on a broiling pan for ~30 minutes at 400F, turning at the half-way point. Note: there is enough seasoning to cover 6-8 chops, depending on how much rub you apply to each chop.
When making the whole chicken, I used one of our thawed chickens, patted it dry, then rubbed the mixture all over the outside of the bird and also inside the cavity. After refrigerating overnight, I added a diced onion to the cavity and slow-roasted it at 250F for 5 hours.