Inspired by Emeril, Made By A 12-year old. :)

According to our family's tradition, a birthday person chooses their birthday meal to share with the family. And I would typically make it :). But not this time. Not for Yana's 12th birthday.  Yana loves to cook! So for her family celebration party she treated us to a wonderful Caribbean-style dinner, inspired by the recipe of Emeril Lagasse: Jerk pork chops with Mango Salsa, served with rice.

The Jerk Pork recipe is really quite simple:

• pork chops (we used thick cut), about 2 lbs
• Jerk seasoning marinade (we used an already-made jerk rub we brought from Jamaica, but there are plenty of easy jerk seasoning recipes on the internet). Make sure to use Scotch bonnet peppers, if possible,  in your Jerk marinade, for the most authentic Jerk flavor experience.

Marinade pork in Jerk seasoning in the fridge for at least 4 hrs., even better overnight - the longer the meat marinates, the better!

Grill on each side until done and slightly charred, about 5-6 min. on each side.

  

                       

Mango Salsa:

•  1 mango, peeled and diced (use a firmer mango that's not too soft, or your salsa will be somewhat mushy)
• 0.5 cup red onion, diced
• 0.5 cup red pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced and zested
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely minced (you can adjust how much pepper goes in, depending on your spiciness preference)
• salt and ground black pepper
• a few mint leaves

Mix all ingredients and let stand in the fridge for at least half-hour before serving. This allows juices and flavors of this mango salsa to really mix and form a nice bouquet of flavors and textures!
Serve salsa over pork - you'll discover a great marriage of spice with fresh light tropical fruit to cool it down. The taste is truly quite exotic!

Although our Birthday girl didn't get to do this next part, we found that a good balanced Chardonnay goes rather nicely with this meal :)

Total cost: $9 per person (incl. wine)