Pork-a-rama

Bacon for breakfast and lunch, pork roast for dinner, and pork ribs for lunch the following day. I didn't plan such a pork-a-rama it just sort of happened.

I have become a bacon snob. I purchase a pound of thick cut bacon from the deli each week. It is far superior to ANYTHING you find prepackaged and not really that much more expensive. You get wonderfully meaty slices that, when cooked right are crisp yet still toothsome (I hate bacon that shatters when you bite into it). Buy it! Bacon lecture done.

So I fried up some bacon for breakfast. The boys and I each had a couple strips with our eggs and English muffins and then I set a couple of pieces aside for the husbands lunch along with a bit of the grease. Yes, some grease. Pork fat, some have said, rules. I don't know about that, but bacon grease is mighty useful stuff- part of the reason I buy a pound a week.

Some of todays by-product (like I said, or, erm wrote rather) was used for Matt's lunch. A couple of tablespoons were whisked up with a bit of red wine vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, salt, pepper, and a healthy glug of hazelnut oil. To this I added a can of drained garbonzos (Matt's favorite), several handfuls of baby spinach, and topped it all with the reserved strips cut into lardons (the Frenchy-French way of saying bacon bits). I packed it all into Tupperware and sent the boys out to deliver the goods.

While they were gone I heated up another pan and added the rest of the grease and in went a four pound salt and peppered pork roast for browning. Once a nice crust was achieved, also known as the maillard effect (thanks Alton), the wee piggy landed in my slow cooker. Why brown before braise? Because it tastes good and I hate the grey look meat gets when sitting in a crockpot all day. That's why! And can I take a moment to add that not all meat is the same and not every cut benefits from time in the crock pot. Sirloin will become tasteless shoe leather, same for pork loin. Stick to the cheaper cuts that benefit from a slow braise. Crock pot lecture done. Anyway, to the cooker I added a diced sweet onion, a bit of rosemary, a splash or three of red wine vinegar, a cup of chicken broth, and a cup of homemade cherry jam. Turned it on low and left it all day because that's what you do with a slow cooker. Talk about tender and the cherry glaze.... kickin'! Right up there with my peppercini pork roast and the Coke-a-Cola pork roast recipe let me tell you!

With three porky meals nestled in my tummy I began on the next day's lunch- pork ribs. Rub 'em down with New Mexican chili powder, corriander, all spice, black pepper, and some celery salt and leave them rest in the frig over night. Next day wrap in a double of layer of foil and bake at 250 for four hours (at least) or until fork tender. Slather on some sauce if you like and serve up with red cabage slaw and potato salad or, if you are a Code Monkey, a generous slab of ice cream cake.

Four meals in a row of porky goodness. Why? I don't know it just sort of happened. Good thing unclean animals were given the green light because those are some good eats. Of course, I'll be eating oatmeal and obscene quantities of produce the rest of month in an effort to keep my heart from completely shutting down, but that's ok. A pork indulgence is needed every now and then.
Pork blog done.