“Know where your food comes from.” That’s today’s mantra in food shopping. Your neighborhood supermarket recognizes that and is labeling its products when they’re from local sources.
If you’re a farmers market shopper, you’re lucky enough to shake the hand of the person who grew those carrots and mustard greens or raised that chicken or pig.
Speaking of chickens and pigs, locally raised meat is widely available at local farmers markets. There’s no refrigerator case with cuts of pork or beef laid out in plastic wrap. The farmer will be there with their processed meat, typically frozen and tucked away in a cooler or refrigerated truck. Often there’s a sign board with a listing of what’s available that day and its price.
Came to the market thinking you wanted a pork loin? The farmer may have sold out, but what about a nice Boston butt instead?
What if you want to go “whole hog” and support your local food habit by buying a quarter or half pig? What will you get?
A half pig will end up supplying anywhere from 60 to 85 pounds of processed meat. There’ll be plenty of pork chops, Boston butt, fresh ham, racks of ribs and generally some sausage and ground pork. But there will also be pig ears, pig feet, maybe a heart or a kidney or both. A hog jowl, lots of pig skin and fat back may also be in your package.
What do you do with all that?
For suggestions, we turned to Terry Koval, executive chef of Wrecking Bar in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood.
Every week Koval buys two whole pigs and 7 pork bellies for the restaurant and he and his kitchen crew use every part.
“Eat everything and waste nothing. That’s so important,” he says.
After all, that pig didn’t give its life just so you could enjoy only the pork tenderloin and throw the rest away.
And Koval practices what he preaches. An early menu offering was the “Three Pig Skillet” serving up pork belly, pork cheeks and pig ears. Pig heads, trotters and tails are boiled up into pork stock which then becomes the base for three different pork sauces. Other parts go into sausage, and the restaurant makes all its own bacon. And they’re trying their hand at curing country ham with about 12 hams hanging right now and aiming for a year’s curing.
Pork liver goes into a pate along with chicken livers. The tongues from those pork heads used to make stock? They’re are peeled, their membranes are removed and then the meat is chopped with fresh onions and cilantro for tacos. “Served with radish and a squeeze of lime in corn tortillas, my 10-year-old daughter loves them,” he says.
For Koval, knowing the farmer and how he or she grows and processes that meat is part of what makes his work so satisfying. “I feel more comfortable eating the products of someone I know personally, someone I can have a conversation with. I want to know that the pig ate vegetable scraps and foraged in the pasture for its food. And was humanely processed when it was time to be killed. That’s the kind of meat I want to eat, and it’s what I want to serve my customers.”
Topper: You don’t have to buy part of a pig to have access to an assortment of parts. Buy a few pieces from your local farmer, or check out the meat case at your supermarket. You’d be surprised at what’s going mainstream these days.
The Wrecking Bar’s Maple-Cured Bacon
“Everybody loves bacon,” says Koval. “This is a great recipe that’s easy to make. Use the same cure for fresh ham and you have maple-cured ham.” To smoke the ham, Koval recommends using a Big Green Egg, or a charcoal grill. “If using a charcoal grill, build your coals on one side of the grill and when they’re hot, add wet apple wood chips. Put the meat on the opposite side from the coals, cover the grill and smoke for 3 hours.”
1/2 cup maple or packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
8 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons #1 pink salt
5 pounds pork belly, skin removed
Make the rub: In a small bowl, combine maple or brown sugar, maple syrup, kosher salt and pink salt and stir until well combined.
Lay pork belly flat in a plastic or glass container and cover all sides with rub. If there is extra rub, sprinkle it around and over the pork belly. Cover the container tightly and refrigerate for one week.
After one week, rinse meat with cold water to remove all rub. Pat dry and place on a wire rack placed in a rimmed baking sheet, refrigerate and dry for 8 hours.
Prepare a smoker and smoke bellies for 3 hours at 210 degrees. Remove bellies from smoker and allow to cool. To serve, slice or dice pork belly and cook in a skillet until desired crispness. Makes: 3 pounds
— Adapted from a recipe provided by Terry Koval.
Per 2-ounce serving: 208 calories (percent of calories from fat, 76), 8 grams protein, 5 grams carbohydrates, no fiber, 17 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 120 milligrams cholesterol, 207 milligrams sodium.
The Wrecking Bar’s Pork and Beans
This recipe makes enough for a fabulous tailgate or potluck party which is perfect since it’s best made at least a day ahead of when you want to serve. “It’s also a great way to use some of those off cuts,” says Koval. The restaurant uses giant Peruvian beans in this recipe. Those can be difficult to find, so Koval has substituted more widely available cannellini beans instead. He likes the combination of two different beans for this dish, but you can just use one type if you prefer.
1 pound dry cannellini beans
1 pound dry red kidney beans
8 sprigs parsley, divided
2 bay leaves, divided
1 bunch thyme, divided
10 cups low-sodium chicken stock, divided
2 carrots, cut in half, divided
4 celery ribs, cut in half, divided
1 cup plus 8 smashed garlic cloves, divided
5 onions, divided
Kosher salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds bacon ends, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 pound pork jowl, skin removed, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 pound Boston butt, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups tomato paste
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups sherry vinegar
1/2 cup chili garlic sauce
In a large saucepan, cover cannellini beans with water and soak 4 hours. In a separate large saucepan, cover kidney beans with water and soak 4 hours. After soaking, drain beans and keep separate. Discard soaking liquid.
Make two bouquet garni by gathering 4 sprigs parsley, bay leaf and 4 sprigs thyme. Tie with kitchen twine. Repeat with remaining parsley, bay leaf and 4 sprigs thyme. Set aside.
Return cannellini beans to their original saucepan and cover with 5 cups chicken stock. Add two carrot halves, 4 celery halves, 4 garlic cloves, one bouquet garni and one onion, cut in half. Repeat with kidney beans and remaining bouquet garni, carrots and celery. Add 4 cloves garlic and 1 onion, cut in half. Bring mixtures to a simmer and cook until beans are tender which will take from 45 to 90 minutes, depending on age of beans and size.
As beans are cooking, taste beans occasionally and add salt and pepper gradually so beans are fully seasoned when they are done. If chicken stock falls below the level of the beans, add water to make sure beans stay covered.
When beans are tender, discard onion, celery, carrot, garlic and bouquet garni. Strain off liquid and set beans aside. They may be combined at this point. Reserve cooking liquid.
In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add bacon, pork jowl and Boston butt. Allow fat to render for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain meat out of stockpot. Remove all but 1 cup fat. Discard extra fat or reserve for another use.
Dice three remaining onions. Add onions and remaining one cup smashed garlic to the fat in the stockpot. Cook five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and brown sugar. Cook five minutes. Add vinegar and stir bottom of pot to release all browned bits. Bring mixture to a simmer. Add chili garlic sauce, remaining thyme and cooked beans. Simmer one hour, stirring occasionally. Add reserved cooking liquid if needed to bring mixture to the preferred consistency. Discard thyme before serving. Makes: 22 cups
— Adapted from a recipe provided by Terry Koval.
Per 1-cup serving: 661 calories (percent of calories from fat, 52), 33 grams protein, 50 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams fiber, 40 grams fat (13 grams saturated), 65 milligrams cholesterol, 900 milligrams sodium.
The Wrecking Bar’s Brined Pork Loin with Coffee BBQ Sauce
The brine in this recipe can be used with pork chops, fresh ham or, as it is here, with pork loin. “With less marbled cuts like pork loin, the brine helps break down the muscle tissues and gets great flavor into the meat,” says Koval. When this dish was on the menu of Wrecking Bar, it was served with green tomato chow-chow, baby carrots and Anson Mills Sea Island peas.
The creation of the barbecue sauce was a collaboration between Koval and his chef de cuisine Jeremiah Weston. “We think it goes really well with the fattiness and richness of the pork. We use it on our pulled pork sandwich as well,” says Koval.
8 cups water
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided
2 teaspoons dried sage
5 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
2 smashed garlic cloves
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 star anise
3 pounds pork loin, fat trimmed to 1/2-inch if needed
4 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped chili de arbol
Coffee BBQ Sauce, for serving (see recipe)
In a large saucepan, combine water, brown sugar, 1/2 cup salt, sage, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, coriander seed, cloves and peppercorns. Bring mixture to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar and salt. When sugar and salt are dissolved, remove mixture from heat and cool to room temperature. Add pork loin and cover pot. Refrigerate for 12 hours.
Make rub: In a small bowl, combine rosemary, thyme, olive oil, pepper, chili de arbol and remaining 2 tablespoons salt. Stir until well combined and set aside.
When pork has finished marinating, remove from brine, pat dry and cover all sides with rub. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
When pork has come to room temperature, arrange fat side up in a lightly greased roasting pan. Roast 30 minutes. Turn loin and roast 20 minutes more or until meat is 155 degrees. Remove from oven and rest 10 minutes before serving. Serve with Coffee BBQ Sauce. Serves: 8
— Adapted from a recipe provided by Terry Koval.
Per serving: 408 calories (percent of calories from fat, 54), 25 grams protein, 22 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 24 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 60 milligrams cholesterol, 788 milligrams sodium.
The Wrecking Bar’s Coffee BBQ Sauce
Koval has definite brand preferences in this recipe. He uses Sir Kensington ketchup, a non-GMO brand, and Bragg’s apple cider vinegar. And he specifies, “Use your favorite local coffee.”
1 cup all-natural ketchup
1/2 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 teaspoons raw sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
Juice of 1/2 lemon
In a medium saucepan, combine ketchup, coffee, vinegar, brown sugar, raw sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, mustard powder and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool. May be made and refrigerated up to one month ahead. Makes: 1 1/2 cups
— Adapted from a recipe provided by Terry Koval.
Per 2-tablespoon serving: 45 calories (percent of calories from fat, 2), trace protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 511 milligrams sodium.
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