lard!

[moominmolly]

Hi! Do you have any recipes that you really prefer to make with lard? Would you share them with me? Right now I plan to make fried eggs and maybe a pie crust, but then what?

Comments

Answering the question you asked...

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Charcuterie/Brian-Polcyn/e/9780393058291/?itm=6) is likely to have some possibilities for you. Full disclosure: I haven't used this book. Ruhlman has a darn good blog.

Re: Answering the question you asked...

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Oh neat! I'll flip through it and see.

Re: Answering the question you asked...

[harimad.livejournal.com]

I am forcing myself to stay away from it, to not even read reviews. I have been jonesing to process a half a pig since Ruhlman blogged about it last winter. I don't have the time. I don't have the space. I don't have the knowledge. I don't have the time to acquire the knowledge. But since I do know where to get half a pig, guess what'll happen if I get within 10 feet of that book?

Re: Answering the question you asked...

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Another thought: Gussied-up Succotash.

Regular succotash is corn and lima beans, with cream, some sugar and a bit of salt. Gussy it up by sauteing minced onion in the fat, then adding the corn (ideally fresh cut from the cob) and sauteing more. Then proceed as usual.

I don't know how this'll work out, I just made it up. I'm confident it would be tasty with lard or bacon fat. Duck fat? Try it and see.

Oh, and it doesn't have to be lima beans. I usually use edamame and call it Asian Succotash.

Re: Answering the question you asked...

[harimad.livejournal.com]

More thoughts:

1) New England Corn Chowda.
Proper NECC requires salt pork. Not lard. Not bacon grease. Salt pork. For my money Julia Child's recipe is the best. I can post when I get home if you want, although I'm sure you'd want it in the summer. My prediction is it'd be wrong but tasty made with duck fat.

2) Have you checked out Cajun cuisine? Not creole, that's too refined, but good old fashioned "whatever wandered into the trap" Cajun?

3) Brunswick Stew? Another hallowed "whatever wandered into the trap" meal.

4) Anything with cornmeal. Spoonbread. Crackling corn bread. Fried cornmeal mush/polenta. You might even be able to rescue corn dogs and hush puppies.

Re: Answering the question you asked...

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, all of this! How did I not even think of corn bread?