Sweet Blog Archive: November, 2010

11/23: Praise the lard

In the age of “The Biggest Loser” it seems gluttonous and altogether politically incorrect to say I love lard, but ever since I began producing pie dough for Prather Ranch Meat Co. I’ve become obsessed with their most excellent pork leaf lard.  The stuff is amazing!  Unlike the mass produced shelf-stable crap you find at the supermarket, which is often blended with hydrogenated fats, this is probably as pure and pristine–and some would say “healthy”–as you can get with rendered pork fat.  And, oh my, once you’ve made a pie or biscuit with it you won’t want to go back to using just butter and shortening.

So what’s the big deal? Well, for one thing blissfully melt-in-your-mouth ethereal buttermilk biscuits and sumptuously tender and flaky pie crust.  For another, it is a dream for work with.  The pie dough I make with this stellar product is far more forgiving than your standard butter and/or shortening dough so you can actually re-roll the scraps with little or not ill-effect.  I do incorporate a small amount of butter into the recipe just for flavor but the star of the show is the lard.

With the weather turning colder I have even more reason to fire up the oven and bake something comforting–cheddar herb biscuits, apricot ginger scones, hand pies.  Yes, pumpkin and pecan pies will still take center stage at Thanksgiving, but after that, sky’s the limit on my creativity.  While I do look forward to sitting down with my family for the traditional Thanksgiving feast, I relish in all the delicious possibilities of that ultimate “mystery basket” that we call leftovers.   I already have plans for that turkey and gravy–savory herb infused turkey hand pies with caramelized onions, mushrooms and dried cranberries.  And the honey baked ham?  Parmesan biscuit ham sandwiches!  The magic ingredient of course is that little tub of pork leaf lard.

Posted November 23rd, 2010  |  Leave a Comment