RECIPE: Bourbon Glazed Cheshire Pork Ribeye by Chef Jacob Rios

Wintertime makes us crave warm and hearty dishes with big punches of flavor! Chef Jacob Rios from American Kitchen Bar & Grill is kind enough to share his delicious recipe for a perfect winter dinner. We’ll let him take it from here!

“I enjoyed and even my kids had a great time in the making of this dish. My inspiration was to make something seasonal that the normal home cook can easily recreate.

I went to Micks farm; they are a local farm in St Cloud Fl. I went ahead and picked up some amazing seasonal purple hull peas or also known as pink eye peas. I knew I wanted a pea or bean of some sort to highlight your amazing pork products and these were just perfect. Not only were they seasonal but they go right down my alley of cooking with products that are hyper local.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my family and myself did.”

Photo credit: Jacob Rios

Bourbon Glazed Cheshire Pork Ribeye with “Pork and Peas”, Florida Broadleaf Mustard Greens & Spicy Pickled Peppers

Recipe yield 6 servings

Ingredients:

-6 each Cheshire pork ribeye chops

Pork seasoning:

-1 Tbsp kosher salt

-1 Tbsp garlic powder

-1 Tbsp paprika

-1 tsp white sugar

-1 tsp ground black pepper

Bourbon Glaze:

-1 cup Bourbon

-0.5 cup brown sugar

-2 garlic cloves

-1 small shallot

-0.5 cup chicken stock

-1 bay leaf

-3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Pork and peas:

-2 each Cheshire pork smoked sausage (medium size dice)

-0.5 pound Cheshire pork old fashion bacon (medium size dice)

-1 pound Purple hull peas 

-2 each carrot (peeled, small dice cut)

-1 each small yellow onion (peeled, small dice cut)

-3 each garlic cloves (finely chopped)

-1 each large mustard green bundle (washed, dried, cut 1 inch slices)

-2 each bay leaf

-1 quart of chicken stock 

-1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

-Tabasc

-Salt & black pepper

Procedure

For “pork and peas”:

-Place peas in a pot, cover the peas at least by two inches add one garlic clove and one bay leaf

-Boil for 3 minutes, turn the heat off cover the pot and set aside for 45 minutes, after that discard the liquid and rinse

-Place another pot on medium heat to cook the bacon, once the bacon is rendered remove it and with the bacon fat sear the sausages, once sear remove and set aside 

-Keep the bacon fat in the pot, add the onions, carrots, garlic, cook for about two minutes until the aromas come out

-Add the peas, bay leaf, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 35 minutes until the peas become tender

-At this point add the mustard greens, couple dashes of tabasco, salt and pepper, simmer for 3 minutes then add the bacon and sausage adjust seasonings if necessary

For Bourbon glazed pork rib eyes:

-In a mixing bowl add the salt, garlic powder, sugar, paprika, black pepper and mix until well blend

-Take the pork rib eyes and season with the rub

-Heat up the oil in a large cast iron skillet and sear the pork rib eyes 2 minutes on each side to develop a nice golden-brown crust, remove from pan and let rest

-On the same pan at medium heat add the garlic, shallot and bay leaf, once they become fragrant add the bourbon cook off the alcohol about two minutes

-At this point add the brown sugar, chicken stock and reduce by half

-Once the glaze has reduced add the butter, salt and pepper

-Return the pork rib eyes to the skillet to finish cooking them to desired temperature and glaze them with that bourbon goodness!

Photo credit: Jacob Rios