St. Iago Pork Chops

July 25: Feast Day of St. James the Greater

Many recipes associated with St. James the Greater include scallops, such as Coquilles Saint-Jacques.  St. James, the elder brother of St. John the Apostle with whom he became one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, labored by the Sea of Galilee (see the biblical reference of Matthew 4:21-22). So seafoods are typically prepared for his feast day. But there are other recipes to honor St. James, such as fruit cups, almond cakes, tomato soufflés and pork chops. We chose the latter for our blog post today and will try the others next time.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf)

Ingredients

• 4-6 thick pork chops
• 1 tablepoon oil
• 1 small onion, choped
• 2 tablespoons rum
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ cup ketchup
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon black ground pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, brown the pork chops in oil. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute the onions. Remove from the skillet and set aside. In the same skillet, pour in the rum and scrape any brown bits. Add the soy sauce, ketchup and chicken stock, stirring until well blended. Season with pepper. Return the onions and pork chops to the skillet, immersing the pork chops in the liquid. Cover the skillet, lower the cooking temperature and simmer for about an hour. Check within 30 minutes to see if the sauce needs thinning with a little water. When the pork chops are tender and cooked through, serve with the thickened sauce and onions.

Notes

• This non-jerk dish is originally from Jamaica and is like stewed meat with barbecue sauce. The recipe book author recommends serving St. Iago pork chops with rice.
• St. Iago is one of the Spanish names for St. James. He is the patron saint of Chile and its capital city of Santiago is named after him.