Rum and Garlic Spiced Pork Chops Recipe - A Discovery

Today was Columbus Day.

Yet another reason to celebrate in our Cuban American household.

If you know your Cuban history, you probably know that Columbus landed somewhere in Holguin, Cuba, in October of 1492, and declared that it was "the most beautiful land human eyes have ever seen."  (My grandmother was from Holguin and this was one of her favorite things to quote.)  Columbus also decided to call the new land "Juana" in deference to Ferdinand and Isabella's son, Juan, but it was already called Cubanacan,  so the "Juana" thing never really caught on and the name was eventually shortened to Cuba.

We'll go ahead and ignore the fact that he was a bit geographically challenged.  But he had all that pressure to discover a new route to the East and make the Spanish queen look good, and yes, he did make that quick declaration that he had indeed landed in India and henceforth all native peoples shall be known as Indians and wow, did that one ever stick, (!!) but that's not important right now.

The important thing was that he discovered Cuba, Pearl of the Antilles, "the most beautiful land human eyes have ever seen."  And that's good enough for me. =D

So I created a pork dish with pork and brown sugar and lots of garlic and RUM (in honor of that whole Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-portion of Cuban history) and I discovered that if you get the rum glaze just right, you will have the "most beautiful piece of pork human eyes have ever seen."   

"But why is the rum gone??" 
~ Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl

Marta's Rum and Garlic Spiced Pork Chops Recipe

  • 8 large garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 yellow onion, quartered
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup chili sauce
  • 1/2 cup dark rum
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • Juice of three large limes (or 1/2 cup lime juice)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 -3 lbs. pork chops (the fat, boneless ones)
  • garlic powder

1) Put the garlic, onion, salt, pepper, chili sauce, rum, brown sugar, and lime juice in a food processor.
2) Process until finely chopped, then drizzle with olive oil and pulse gently to mix.
3) Sprinkle pork chops with garlic powder and brown in a bit of olive oil.
4) Put chops in crockpot and pour sauce over them - it should just cover them.
5) Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours OR 25 minutes on high pressure in a pressure cooker.