Nothing quite like fresh off the farm pork

Today as I ride past the old farm place I get upset looking at and thinking of those days gone by. I can still see the late Mr. Jim Showell ready to hang the meat and the late Mr. Ed Sturgis ready to hang the iron pots over the fire he would make. Mom would allow her children and grandchildren to “help” with the work, but she had a hand in all of the work — especially the final taste testing of the sausage and scrapple. The morning of the slaughter found my sister and I scrubbing down the cutting services, the mixing utensils, the pans to hold scrapple and the trays for both loose sausage and link sausage. In the smokehouse waited the exceptionally clean sharp meat hooks to hang the hams and shoulders. Finally there were the cans to hold the fresh pressed lard — what a beautiful sight, so pure clear white.

The one job that my mother had every year was sausagemaker. Either one of my brothers or nephews would feed the cut up pork parts into the top of the grinder. My mother sat stretching sheep’s intestines for the casing over the tube and working the ground sausage as it fed into the intestines and into a large bowl. This was a job that I later inherited and since it was the only job that you could actually sit at our hog killings, I didn’t mind!

There are many funny stories associated with “hog killing adventures” throughout the years but time will not allow today — in the next few winter months I will slip them in! The one I love the most could the hogs have gotten me in big trouble, but my bus driver, the late Mr. George Hudson was related to mom, and he was a farmer. One cold hog killing morning I was leaving to go to school on the bus, and I begged Mr. Sturgis to cut out the hog brains for my class to study in biology and he did, but he put them in a small brown paper bag. By the time we got to Stephen Decatur High School, the bag broke through as we got off the bus! My friend Nellie saw it first — screamed — hollered “dead” and everyone ran! I tried to explain to our new principal but to no avail. He just didn’t understand a country girl’s ambition to succeed in biology. Enough of this, let’s cook some delicious fresh pork.

COUNTRY PORK RIBS

3 lb. country-style pork ribs (about 8 ribs), 2 teaspoons smoked salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

Arrange the ribs in a single layer in an ungreased 9 X 13-inch rimmed baking dish. Mix together the dry rub ingredients and sprinkle the rub on top of the ribs. Cover the baking dish tightly with heavy duty foil (or a double layer of regular foil), and bake until the ribs are very tender, about 2 hours.

With a slotted spatula, remove the cooked ribs to a broiler-safe, foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Either flip them or place them on their side, so that the fat is exposed to the heating element. The goal is to brown it. Switch the oven to broil on high (500°F) and set an oven rack 6 inches below the heating element (not directly below).

Baste the ribs with the pan juices, then broil them until the fat is browned, 3-4 minutes. Baste the ribs one more time with the pan juices and serve.

PORK ROAST

6-pound boneless Boston Butt aka pork shoulder, 3 cloves garlic minced, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons ground pepper, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, 2 large red onions, sliced into 1-inch thick wedges, olive oil (for roasting pan and possibly needed to coat onions), 1/2 cup reserved pan drippings.

The day before you plan to serve the roast, preheat oven to 300 degrees, tie roast well with kitchen twine and place it in a lightly oiled roasting pan. Rub roast with mix of herbs and garlic and place in roasting pan and bake in your preheated oven, uncovered, for 3 hours.

Remove roast from pan and add onions; toss with pan drippings (if there isn’t enough fat in the pan, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and toss onions to coat). Place roast on top of onions and return to oven, uncovered, for an additional 4 hours (check pan every hour to be sure the pan drippings don’t evaporate — add 2 cups of water if necessary).

Remove the roast from the roasting pan and place it in a glass baking dish and allow it to cool before you wrap the dish well with plastic and put it in the fridge overnight. Reserve the onions and pan drippings separately in the fridge overnight too. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of drippings (maybe 1 1/4 after you remove the fat). Add water to the drippings if you don’t have enough.

On the day you plan to serve, about an hour before you want to serve this yummy roast, preheat your oven to 300 degrees again, removing the twine from the roast and slicing into 1/4-inch slices, “shingle” the slices in a large casserole dish, pour about 1/2 cup of the reserved pan drippings over the slices, cover with foil, and place in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Season individual servings and serve.

PORK LOIN CHOPS

For the seasoning: 2 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder, 1 teaspoon ground sage, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon celery salt. Measure out all of the ingredients into a small mixing bowl (or the bowl of a spice grinder) including paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, ground sage, and optional spices cayenne pepper or celery salt. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 375°F and lightly grease or spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Wash and trim your country-style pork loin chops as needed, then pat the pork dry using paper towels. Apply the pork seasoning to all sides of the pork chops generously. For about 2 lbs. of country style pork loin chops you’d use 2 tablespoons of the pork seasoning.

Place the seasoned country-style pork loin chops into your prepared baking dish in a single layer. Bake in the middle of your oven’s center rack for 35-40 minutes, or until the pork reaches a minimum internal temperature of 145°F. Remove from the oven and serve immediately for best taste.

PULLED PORK

One 3 lb. pork shoulder roast, 1/2 cup beef broth, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 chopped yellow onion, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, 1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce.

Spread chopped onions on bottom of slow cooker. Add pork shoulder and pour in chicken broth, Worcestershire and cider vinegar right on the pork. Add mustard and brown sugar and use your hands to rub it all in the pork. Cover the slow cooker and set on high for 5 hours. Shred pork with 2 forks and pour in sauce. Don’t pour the whole bottle in. Just enough to cover the meat according to taste. Cover and cook on high for 1 more hour. Serve on your favorite sandwich rolls or buns.

BACON, BEAN AND POTATO SOUP

1 lb. dry navy beans, 6 oz. bacon, 2 cloves garlic, 1 yellow onion, 3 carrots, 3 ribs celery, 2 lbs. potatoes, 6 cups chicken broth, 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

The day before you want to serve, place the beans in a large bowl and add enough cool water to cover the beans by 2-3 inches. Let the beans soak in the refrigerator overnight. The next day cut the bacon into one-inch pieces. Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat until brown and crispy. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and pour off most of the grease, leaving a tablespoon or two in the pot.

While the bacon is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Peel and slice the carrots and slice the celery.

Sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery in the leftover bacon grease over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (about five minutes). Use the moisture from the vegetables to help dissolve the browned bits of bacon from the bottom of the pot.

While the vegetables are sautéing, peel the potatoes then cut them into 1/2-inch cubes. Drain the soaked beans in a colander and rinse them briefly. Add the cubed potatoes, rinsed beans, and chicken broth to the pot. Cover the pot and bring it up to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and let the pot boil gently for one hour, or until the beans and potatoes are very soft.

Use an immersion blender to purée about half of the soup, leaving some beans and vegetables whole. If you don’t have an immersion blender, remove half of the soup from the pot, let it cool slightly, then use a blender or food processor to carefully purée the warm soup. Return the puréed soup to the pot and stir to combine with the rest.

Add the tomato sauce and reserved bacon to the soup. Stir and heat until warm. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot.