Southwest Sunday

It's a dreary, cool but humid, nasty semi-rainy Sunday at the Little Lake House. I am done canning for a few days so it's time to clean up the kitchen and cook a real meal. A quick look through the pantry and a suggestion from The Chef and we're having pan roasted boneless pork country style ribs and Spanish rice.

The pork really doesn't have a recipe, per se. I started with a package of 6 boneless country style pork ribs, rubbed them liberally with a good barbeque meat rub and seared in a hot cast iron skillet. Once they were nicely seared, I popped them in the oven at 400 degrees to finish. It took about 15 minutes to reach that perfect, juicy 145 degrees for perfect pork.

Meanwhile, I got started on The Chef's Spanish Rice. You will need-

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup rice (not instant)
• chili powder
• cumin
• 1 1/2 cups chopped tomato, reserve juice
• water
• cooking oil

Start by heating a tablespoon or two of oil in a deep skillet or stockpot. Add onion, peppers and garlic and saute for a couple minutes until softened. Add rice, chili powder and cumin to taste- we like spicy so I used about 3 tb chili powder and several dashes of cumin and stirred well. 

Add tomatoes to pot- I used a quart a home-canned chopped tomatoes and saved the liquid, but you can use store-bought or fresh tomatoes. Add enough water to juice to make 2 1/2 cups and add that to pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer 15-20 minutes until rice is done. Stir occasionally and add more water if needed to prevent sticking.

Serve the rice with the pork and enjoy! 

On The Farm: A look at Carl Blake

It's always fun to discover interesting new farms in Iowa. Some are organic vegetable farms, others grow a variety of berries. Some are a century old, and others run by young farmers. Some attract tourists and other attract the national media. Rustik Rooster Farms is not very close to the Little Lake House, in fact, it's quite a haul, but hearing about this farm and seeing Carl Blake on television and at Iowa's EntreFest 2014 piqued my interest, and the foodie in me had to know more! Carl had amazing stories to share- about the internet, his family, and his "self-therapy" system of planting 2,000 tomato plants with a crutch and his casted foot. He is a fascinating person. But the big reason Carl is where he is today is because of hogs.

Carl Blake talks with Andy Stoll at Iowa's EntreFest 2014.

Carl Blake runs a hog farm. Doesn't sound like the most glamorous thing to many people, but in his case, he raises a very rare and unique hog, the Iowa Swabian Hall hog. What's so special about this pig? Everything! A very rare "heritage" breed, the Swabian Hall hog is known for its rich, red meat that's well marbled, more like beef than pork. Carl has spent considerable time breeding hogs to have exactly the right characteristics as their ancestors from 100-plus years ago.  In fact, Carl says that pork really is NOT meant to be the super lean "white" meat we know today. Instead of the mass-produced everyday pig, Carl's hogs are a unique breeding of Chinese Meishan pig and the muscular Ossabaw pig, very much like the German Schwabish- Hallisches Schwein. 

The hogs are almost too cute to eat!

Rustik Rooster Farm is a 15 acre, 1881 farmstead north of Waterloo, in Frederika, Iowa. Here Carl's 400 or so hogs are free to graze and wander the farm doing, well, what pigs do- root around in the grass and soil, and eat. They eat hydroponically grown barley that's raised on the premises, grasses and grains. This wonderful environment helps contribute to exactly what Carl wants- the best tasting pig in the world. 

Andrew Zimmern spends quality time with the hogs

These award-winning hogs are big favorites of chefs all over the country. Des Moines' Centro executive chef Derek Eidson praised the Swabian Hall hog for it's incredible fat, which he compares to olive oil. Chefs in Wisconsin, Denver, Chicago, meat markets in Minnesota, all rave about the pork and it's unusual qualities. Charcuterers have also taken notice, crafting pancetta and prosciutto like no other pork. There is a considerable waiting list to even get a hog from the farm, and these chefs all agree, it is more than worth the wait. 

Prosciutto made from Swabian Hall pork

Carl's enthusiasm and love for his Swabian Hall hogs have also caught the attention of celebrity chefs! Andrew Zimmern featured a visit to the farm and a hog roast on an episode of Bizarre Foods America, and fell in love with the flavor of these amazing pigs, calling them "magic."

What is in the future for Rustik Rooster? How about a house-made charcuterie range, expanded operation and a shorter waiting list for these fantastic hogs? Carl has big plans for the future and something tells me a lot of people are anxiously waiting! If you are lucky enough to live near or visit Des Moines, you may be able to taste some of this amazing meat at Centro or Django in downtown Des Moines. These restaurants feature the Swabian Hall hog whenever they can.

***All photos property of and courtesy of Rustik Rooster, except EntreFest photo.

Homestyle Pork Roast

Sometimes you just have to have good homestyle comfort food. For many of us, especially in the Midwest, that's a nice pork roast. Bacon has become a trendy item to cook with, but it also makes an excellent self-baster and tastes amazing in just about anything. Pork roast happens to be my personal favorite and apparently I live in the right state for it.

Roasts are not only delicious, but they are easy to prepare and many times leave you some delicious leftovers for another meal or two. Options for sides are endless, gravy or not, it's all up to you. This recipe is very flexible too. Change up the herbs to something you like or have on hand. Don't like or don't eat pork? No problem. Grab a beef roast and go with that. Some roasts are better braised or cooked low and slow in a crock pot, but this particular recipe you want to use a fairly shallow, open pan to allow the bacon to crisp up. To make Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast, you will need:

boneless pork loin roast (mine was about 3 lbs)
bacon
1/4 cup olive oil
herbs- I used thyme, rosemary, marjoram
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
4 TB grainy German mustard (or more for bolder flavor)
salt and pepper

Trim pork roast of any silverskin or excess fat. Place the roast in a heavy duty zip close bag- like a freezer bag. It's going to be a gallon or maybe 2 gallon bag depending on the size of your roast. To the bag add the herbs, oil, mustard, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Close the bag removing as much air as possible. Then massage the bag to combine the ingredients and completely and evenly coat the meat. Place in fridge and marinate overnight.

When ready to roast, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove roast from bag, it's not necessary to remove excess marinade. Using bacon slices, wrap the roast completely, using twine to hold the bacon in place. 

Yes, I was out of kitchen twine, so I used yarn- hey it worked!!

Put the roast on a rack in a roasting pan. As you can see, I had to improvise a little and make a "rack" from foil "sticks". Roast uncovered at 350 degrees at least an hour or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees. If you find the bacon is browning too quickly, tent the roast with foil. Remove from oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes before slicing.

I served the roast with mashed potatoes and green beans from our garden (thank you, pressure canner) and it was delicious. The roast was moist and tender and we skipped the gravy completely. This is a great meal for a lazy weekend day, Sunday dinner, or a cold dreary day when the heat of the oven would be welcome. As long as you have the oven on, why not throw in an apple pie? Let me know what time, and I'll be over for dinner!